About
Fort Grey sits on a tidal islet in Rocquaine Bay on Guernsey's exposed west coast, a squat white Martello-style tower inside a curtain wall, universally known on the island as the Cup and Saucer. It was built in 1804 during the Napoleonic wars, on a rock that had carried defences long before, and it now houses Guernsey's shipwreck museum — a use that suits it, since the reefs it looks out over have wrecked more ships than almost any other stretch of water in the Channel Islands.
Those reefs are the point. The Hanois rocks off Guernsey's south-western tip, and the shoals running out from Rocquaine Bay, sit directly on the approach to the island and to the French coast beyond, and they have taken vessels steadily for centuries. Displays run from HMS Sprightly, lost in 1777, through to the Vermontborg in 2003, covering merchantmen, warships, steamers and coasters. Objects recovered from the seabed — cannon, fittings, cargo, personal effects, ship's fabric — are shown alongside the narratives of individual losses.
The Hanois lighthouse, built in 1862 after long agitation about the toll the rocks were taking, is a major thread. So is the human dimension: the crews lost, the islanders who put out to rescue survivors, the salvage that followed a wreck and the sometimes uneasy economics of a coastal community for whom a ship on the rocks meant both tragedy and opportunity.
The building itself is compact — a visit is naturally short — but the setting is exceptional. At low tide the fort is reached across a causeway; the bay is one of the best places on Guernsey to watch a westerly gale come in; and the surrounding coast holds German fortifications, the Pleinmont headland and a long shingle sweep. It is run by Guernsey Museums and opens for a defined season from late March to the beginning of November.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Seasonal: the 2026 season is 25 March to 1 November, and the fort is closed all winter.
- It is on a tidal islet reached by a causeway — check the tide before crossing, especially around high water.
- The fort is small and a visit is naturally short, around an hour, so pair it with the Pleinmont headland or the German Occupation Museum.
- The £24 Discovery Pass covers Castle Cornet, Guernsey Museum, Fort Grey and the German Naval Signals HQ for a year, with under-18s free — far better value than separate tickets.
- Accompanied children under 7 go free and the child rate is only £1.50, making this one of the cheapest family visits on the island.
- There is no lift and access involves a causeway, a slope, steps and an internal stair, so it is not suitable for wheelchair users.
- Rocquaine faces due west into the Atlantic swell — in a westerly gale the bay is spectacular, but keep well back from the water.
- On a clear day look south-west for the Hanois lighthouse, which is the subject of one of the museum's best displays.
Highlights
The Cup and Saucer
Fort Grey's nickname describes it exactly: a squat, whitewashed round tower — the cup — standing inside a low circular curtain wall on a rock — the saucer. It was built in 1804 as part of the defensive programme against Napoleonic France, on a site that had carried fortification for centuries before.
Whitewashed and sitting alone in Rocquaine Bay, it is one of the most photographed structures on Guernsey and among the most recognisable buildings in the Channel Islands.
The tower's compact interior is where the museum displays are arranged, across more than one level.
The Hanois reef and its wrecks
The rocks running out from Guernsey's south-western tip lie directly on the approaches to the island and to the French coast, and they have wrecked vessels with grim regularity for as long as records exist. The museum's core displays run from the loss of HMS Sprightly in 1777 through to the grounding of the Vermontborg in 2003, covering warships, merchantmen, steamers and coasters.
Charts, models and recovered material set out how and why particular ships were lost, and the pattern that emerges makes the case for the lighthouse that eventually followed.
The Hanois Lighthouse
Built in 1862 after decades of argument about the toll the reef was taking on shipping, the Hanois lighthouse stands on an isolated rock off Pleinmont and was among the more difficult granite towers of its era to construct. Displays cover the campaign for it, the engineering, the keepers who served on it before automation, and the reduction in losses that followed.
On a clear day the tower is visible from the coast near the fort, which makes the story unusually easy to connect to the view.
Objects recovered from the seabed
The collection includes material raised from wrecks around the islands: cannon and shot, ship's fittings, navigational instruments, cargo, coins and personal effects belonging to crew and passengers. Salt-water recovery leaves its own marks, and the concretion and corrosion on many items is part of what they communicate.
Alongside them the displays cover the practicalities of diving and salvage in Channel Islands waters, an activity that has ranged over the years from official recovery to something distinctly more freelance.
Collections
Fort Grey holds Guernsey Museums' shipwreck collection, documenting losses on the reefs off Guernsey's western and south-western coasts from the eighteenth century to the present — from HMS Sprightly in 1777 to the Vermontborg in 2003. Holdings include cannon and shot, ship's fittings and fabric, navigational instruments, cargo, coins and personal effects recovered from the seabed, together with charts, models, photographs and documentary material on individual wrecks, on rescue and salvage, and on the construction and keeping of the Hanois lighthouse of 1862.
The fort itself, built in 1804 within an older defensive site, forms part of the collection, with interpretation of Guernsey's Napoleonic-era coastal defences, its armament and the militia that garrisoned it.
Shipwrecks of the Channel Islands
The main display, covering losses on the local reefs from 1777 to 2003 with recovered material, charts and narratives.
The fort and its defences
Interpretation of the 1804 tower, its curtain wall and gun positions, and Guernsey's Napoleonic coastal defence chain.
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.