Stamps of 2023: Jersey (January 2023)

Jan. 5, 2023

Year of the Rabbit

Jersey Post released its Year of the Rabbit set on January 5, consisting of a 98p stamp in sheets of 10 and a miniature sheet with a face value of £3. These were designed by Wang Huming and printed by Cartor Security Printers using four color offset lithography plus gold metallic ink with varnish. The stamps measure 36mm x 36mm while the size of the souvenir sheet is 95mm x 125mm.

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are said to live life free from constraints and are in constant pursuit of their ideas. Because of their weak wills, however, they have difficulty achieving great things. In addition, Rabbits are sometimes too guarded and delicate when managing human affairs and personal matters. While they tend to be tenacious and ambitious, these characteristics may also lead to jealousy when they don’t get their way.

Those born under the sign of the rabbit do not like to argue, preferring peace and quiet. They are good listeners, excellent negotiators and tend to work well on a team. They can be artistic and creative but also have a strong desire to avoid stressful and risky situations. They can also be pessimistic and insecure and therefore are hesitant to make quick changes.


The second installment of the “Jersey from the Air” series will be issued on January 28 featuring drone-captured photographs taken by local business BAM Perspectives. The eight stamps plus miniature sheet were designed by Marc Le Cornu and are in denominations of 60p, 98p, 98p, £1.65, £1.85, £2.55, £3.25, and £4.20. Printed using four-color offset lithography by Cartor Security Printers of France, the stamps measure 36mm x 36mm die-cut within 42mm x 42mm roulette perforated panels as sheets of ten.

60p Bouley Bay Hill

Bouley Bay is tucked away between towering cliffs on Jersey’s north coast in Trinity Parish. A rambling slope winds its way down towards the bay to reveal a deep anchorage, and is the home of scuba diving in Jersey. The pebble beach shelves steeply into deep waters best enjoyed by stronger swimmers. Jutting out over the bay is the medieval Fort Leicester. The bay is accessed by a long, steep and winding road that has been regularly used by motor and cycling clubs since 1920 to test their skills and endurance in coming back up from the bottom. The Bouley Bay Hill Climb is organized by the Jersey Motor Cycle and Light Car Club with the course on Les Charrières du Boulay first used for competition in 1921″. Since 1947, it has hosted rounds of the British Hill Climb Championship.

98p Grosnez Castle

Grosnez Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle in Saint Ouen, situated in Grosnez in the north-west corner of Jersey. Sir John des Roches ordered the castle built around 1330, about the time of the start of the Hundred Years’ War, to provide local farmers with a place of refuge from French attacks. Philippe de Carteret held it against the French when they held half of Jersey between 1461 and 1467, but it has been a ruin since the mid-16th century. Today, the ruins are open to the public. Concrete steps that lead from the rear of Grosnez Castle to a small automated signal station affords scenic views.

98p Faldouët Dolmen

The dolmens of Jersey are a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or “table”. They range over a wide period, from around 4800 BC to 2250 BC, these dates covering the periods roughly designated as Neolithic, or “new stone age”, to Chalcolithic, or “copper age”. La Pouquelaye de Faldouët is in the Parish of St Martin and is a 5 metre long passage leading into a large circular chamber beyond which is a large cap-stoned end chamber. Several smaller side chambers and cists form the edges of the main chamber. Human bones from at least three individuals have been recovered as well as pottery, stone axes and flints.

£1.65 St. Aubin’s Harbour

St. Aubin is a town and port in St. Brelade in Jersey located on the western end of St. Aubin’s Bay, on the south coast of the island, opening out into the Gulf of Saint-Malo. It was originally a fishing village and the historic economic center of the island. The Jersey Railway historically terminated in the town, at what is now the parish hall. The Railway Walk, a trail following the route of the former Jersey Railway to La Corbière, starts from St Aubin. The town is the civil administrative center for the parish of St. Brelade, however ecclesiastically, the parish church is located in St. Brelade’s Bay. It retains a much more historic character than St. Helier, whose architecture has changed as the center of Jersey’s finance industry. St. Aubin’s Fort lies in the bay on a tidal island, just outside the harbor. During the German occupation of the Channel Islands, the German forces added bunkers and other features to the fort.

£1.85 Cliffs near Plémont

Plémont Bay is a sandy cove on the north-west tip of the island with many rock pools, fascinating sea caves, and a fresh water waterfall. It was a favorite beach in Victorian and Edwardian times, when whole families would descend the steps to picnic on the rocks – parasols at the ready. Photographs from the time show chivalrous gentlemen carrying intrepid lady bathers through the rock pools on their way to see the caves.

£2.55 Val de la Mare Reservoir

Val de la Mare Reservoir was constructed in 1962 and is the second largest reservoir in Jersey (Queen’s Valley is the largest). The reservoir holds up to 938.7 megalitres of untreated water (enough to supply Jersey with water for approximately five weeks). Water feeds into the reservoir from its catchment area of 350 hectares (865 acres) which extends towards St Ouen’s Parish Hall in the North and La Grande Route de St Pierre in the East. Water is also pumped to Val de La Mare from the desalination plant when it is in operation. The reservoir has a natural wealth of flora and fauna and is home to many species of birds and wildlife. Owls are also particularly encouraged at the reservoir – see if you can spot their nesting boxes. An arboretum has also been created at the reservoir. This garden devoted to trees provides a lush and safe environment for wildlife. There are several walking routes around Val de la Mare Reservoir; the full circuit is 2.8miles (4.5km).

£3.25 Archirondel Tower

Jersey is a heavily fortified island with coastal fortifications that date to the English Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, and Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Channel Islands. The fortifications include castles, forts, towers, Martello towers, artillery batteries, and seawalls. Not infrequently, fortifications from one period are built on the site of earlier fortifications, or very near them, geography having remained the same even when firepower increased.

Archirondel Tower was built on La Roche Rondel which was originally a tidal island. A causeway, which was to be part of a breakwater that would form the southern arm of an enhanced St Catherine’s harbor, now connects the tower to the shore. The tower had a gun platform at its base and three larger machicolations rather than the four of the other towers.

£4.20 Manor Farm, St. Ouen

St Ouen’s Manor is a Grade I listed building surrounded by gardens, meadows and woodland, and set within the rural landscape of Jersey’s west coast. It is the oldest Manor and Gardens on the island and has been the ancestral home of the Malet de Carteret family since the 12th century. Built in the 19th century, the walled garden is a large lawned square with two dovecotes either side, gravel paths and a raised stone fountain. The walls are lined with roses, fruit trees and lavender, with a deep bed of wild flowers on the west wall, and colours that change throughout the year.

One thought on “Stamps of 2023: Jersey (January 2023)

  1. Pingback: Stamps of 2023: Monthly Wrap-Up (January) | Mark Joseph Jochim

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