Battle of Jersey: annual commemorative walk

Take part in local history and join the Battle of Jersey commemorative walk on Saturday 10 January 2026.

Meeting at Grouville Churchyard for 08:15 for an 08:30 set off, ending in Howard Davis Park before joining the commemorations in the Royal Square.

The walk is estimated to take three and a half hours (6.5 miles) and is described as moderate – mostly on roads and pavements, but some walking on broken paths, with one hill to climb and ascend.

In the early hours of 6 January 1781, a French force led by the Baron de Rullecourt landed at La Rocque and stealthily marched on St Helier. Threatened with death and destruction, the Lieutenant Governor, Moses Corbet, agreed to surrender—Jersey, it seemed, had been lost for Britain. But the garrison rallied and refused to give up. Gallantly led by 24-year-old Major Francis Peirson, British and local forces advanced to defeat the French and restore the Island’s liberty. It’s a historic event widely remembered today as the ‘Battle of Jersey’.

An annual commemorative walk takes place to recall this pivotal moment. Starting from a different location each year and led by historian and Société Jersiaise Vice-President Ian Ronayne, it follows in the footsteps of the Jersey Militia regiments summoned from their respective parishes to fight for the Island’s defence. The walk culminates in the Royal Square, where an event organised by the Parish of St Helier remembers and reenacts the dramatic actions taking place 245 years ago.

This year, the walk begins at Grouville Church, muster point for men from the Militia’s 3^rd or East Regiment, and burial ground for seven British grenadiers killed during the fighting on 6 January 1781. The walk will begin by visiting La Rocque, near where these men lost their lives defeating a French force guarding a post there. Then continue on to St Helier via St Clement’s Church for a rendezvous in the Royal Square.