The Guernsey
Liberation Monument
Images and text copyright by David Le Conte
(except as marked)
Click on the images for larger versions
Thousands of years ago Neolithic man erected stone monuments on
These prehistoric monoliths were
the inspiration for
The Guernsey
The obelisk is made up of 50 layers of Guernsey granite - one layer for each year of freedom. The top layers are sheared away to represent the five years of occupation endured by islanders. The seating and platform are off-white French granite which enhances the visibility of the shadow cast by the obelisk.
Inscriptions placed on the seating record the major events of the 9th May 1945: the signing of the surrender of the German forces at 7.15 am, the landing of the British Liberating Force at 8.00 am, and the unfurling of the Union Flag at 10.15 am.
Also recorded is Winston Churchill's memorable statement: "Our dear
Channel Islands are also to be freed today."
At the east end of the seating the words "Thanks be to God" are inscribed in English and Guernsey-French.
The design of the Monument is not just specific to one day each year, but it is
also unique to Guernsey. Nowhere else would the Sun cast a shadow in the
precise curve at the precise times recorded by the inscriptions on the seating.
The Liberation Monument is in a location near the old Weighbridge Clock Tower
at St Peter Port Harbour. It was in this area that islanders met the liberating
forces in 1945 and rejoiced at their freedom.
Source:
It provides a pleasant place to sit in the sun, facing precisely due south.
The Monument is designed and positioned within about a hundredth of a degree (approximately one millimetre), giving a precision of just a few seconds in time. The accuracy will change slightly in the future, because of the effect of leap years, weathering, settlement, and changes in the Earth's rotation and orbit. However, it should be reasonably accurate for several hundred years - but only on the 9th May!
The
The monument was designed by Guernsey artist Eric Snell, and erected by the States of Guernsey Liberation Day Committee. The cost of the Monument was defrayed by public subscription.
A Path of Precision
(The bend in the shadow path before
The large scale of the Liberation Monument,
which covers an area of 500 square metres (it extends over 40 metres from west
to east), and the fact that it is specific to just one day a year, gave the
opportunity for high precision in the shadow path of the tip of the obelisk.
The mathematical calculations required were carried out by David Le Conte, a member of the local
astronomy society, the Astronomy Section
of La Société Guernesiaise, using a
(BBC Basic) computer program which he wrote specifically for the purpose. The program, called SunShadow
calculated the position of the Sun every five minutes, from 0640 to 1700 hours
British Summer Time, for
However, a mathematical calculation alone is not good enough for practical
application. Factors unnoticed in a
small-scale sundial affect the apparent length of the shadow of a large-scale
instrument, and hence the position of the observed shadow tip. It was important to take these effects fully
into account so that the shadow was seen to fall exactly where it was intended.
SunShadow already allowed for atmospheric
refraction, and long-term changes in the shadow length were taken into account
through calculations covering several hundred years. Leap years make a difference of course, but
there are also long-term variations in the apparent position of the Sun. Other effects include the fact that the Sun
is not a point source of light, diffusion of the shadow because of atmospheric
haze, and the need for the top of the obelisk to have a minimum bulk in order
to cast an umbral shadow. Extensive experiments were carried out to
determine the optimum height and shape of the top of the obelisk.
The Construction - a Monumental Task!
Precision designing of the
A detailed analysis was carried out into the potential for errors to creep in
during construction: height and perpendicularity of
the obelisk, level of the base platform and seating, orientation of the
seating, accuracy of manufacture, and placing of the inscriptions. The one remaining factor which could affect
the Monument‘s accuracy in the future is subsidence. Jacking points were built into the foundations
of the obelisk so that, if necessary, it can be restored to its correct
position.
The States of Guernsey Architect, Patrick Reade, was
responsible for overseeing the construction, and Surveyor Sean Harvey was
assigned the critical task of laying it out.
The direction of True North had to be determined to within 1/100th
degree, and, because of uncertainties in the accuracy of the map grid, this was
done by checking the position of the Pole Star against Mica, the US Naval Observatory’s Interactive
Astronomical Almanac.
The building of the Monument was carried out by LeRoy
Limited, under the supervision of Phil Sebire.
Great care was taken in the stone cutting and construction, with
frequent survey checks. Starting in
September 1994, it was completed in time for final checks of the shadow
appearance and position, and a grand unveiling on the 9th May 1995, the 50th
Anniversary of the Liberation, by HRH The Prince of Wales, in the presence of
thousands of islanders and visitors, including veterans of the War and of the
Liberation.
Each year on the 9th May the
obelisk shadow silently commemorates the Liberation by following the precisely
delineated path, the shadow tip pointing at the designated times to the
inscribed events of 1945.
But the Monument serves a utilitarian, as well as a commemorative purpose. It is in a central location on the
Left to right: Phil Sebire, David Le Conte, Eric Snell, Peter Dodsworth, and Sean Harvey,
on 09 May 1995, before the unveiling
Stereoscopic pair
In 1997 the Monument won a coveted Civic Trust Award.
Further information about the
Monument appears in States of Guernsey Billet d'Etat
XVII, 1994. A full report on the
calculations of the shadow path and related data is lodged at the Guernsey
Greffe. Papers describing its design and
construction have been published in The
Review of the Guernsey
Society (Vol. LI, No. 2, Summer 1995, page 37), and the Bulletin
of the British Sundial Society (No. 97.3,
July 1997, page 43). The most detailed
paper is in the Report and Transactions
1997 of La Société Guernesiaise (Vol XXIV, Part II, page 309). There are brief descriptions in Guernsey Sundials by David & Dorothy Le Conte (published
by La Société Guernesiaise, 2004), Sundials of the
The award-winning Guernsey Sundial Trail
La Société Guernesiaise home page La Société Guernesiaise Astronomy Section home page
This page was last updated on 02 April 2012.
visitors since 25 May 2009.