Guernsey is divided into 10 parishes, and one of the beauties of the island is that each parish has its own distinct identity, culture, history and landscape. These are not quaint vestiges of a vanishing past, people are proud of their parish and the differences are celebrated. Even the food, religion, folklore and language can differ from parish to parish. The architecture varies from dockland-style apartments, Georgian townhouses, Victorian terraces, chocolate-box fisherman cottages, and granite farmhouses.
It is believed that the parishes became established in the 11th and 12th centuries when Christianity was adopted. These ecclesiastical boundaries form today’s civil administrative districts with the douzaines responsible for parochial affairs.
