Meet Minquiers: The British island that disappears every day
When you hear the term island, what do you envision? A contiguous area of land completely surrounded by water, isn’t that, right? But this land in the middle of the ocean is more or less always standing; unless you visit Minquiers, in which case, it disappears every day.
Where on earth is Minquiers?
Minquiers, or “the Minkies” in local English is an archipelago comprising of both islands and gigantic rocks and are situated between Britain and France, more specifically about 15 kilometres south of the French town Jersey upon the English Channel. And apart from disappearing daily and reappearing hours later, this is also the southernmost region of the British Isles. In addition, Minquiers also offers a strange atmosphere that is partly a rocky desert, partly an island chain, often straddling between land and sea.
Interestingly, the term Minquiers may have derived from the Breton word ‘minihi’ meaning sanctuary, or from French ‘minkier’ meaning a seller of fish.
History of Minquiers
Considering its strategic geographical setting, Minquiers have long been subjected to fights, starting with Normans to the British coming down to the French, starting as early as 955 BC. Originally owned by the Normans for ages, Minquiers were invaded by Edward III of England in 1360 but was seized by French monasteries under the leadership of Henry V in 1413. Since then, it has been a tug of war between the two nations, giving pirates and smugglers advantage to exploit its granite reposits and fishing grounds.
While the Nazis tried to enter UK through the Minquiers during the Second World War, commoners like a Parisian banker as well as a French artist and yachtsman named Marin-Marie too tried to set camp in 1929 and 1939 respectively.
At present however, this liminal island, is divided between two French regions, the Parish of Grouville, in Jersey’s Channel Islands and the district of La Rocque, and is almost like a condominium (since 2005). However, this self-governing part of the British Isles is no longer part of Britain. Ironic, isn’t it?
Why does the island disappear?
As it happens, the Minquiers group of islands have a land area spreading10 miles long and 7 miles wide, and is in fact bigger than the town of Jersey itself. However, whenever there’s high tide, they disappear only to reappear after six hours. Although the area is largely uninhabited, if someone visits it during high tide, he or she can only see a few rocks peeping from the water, that makes only 0.004 miles out of the 10.
The southernmost building of the British Isle
As already mentioned, the Minquiers is the southernmost region of the British Isle. That made us wonder, what’s its southernmost building. Can you make a guess? You would think it’s a castle in ruins or even an abandoned lighthouse, but turns out it’s a public toilet constructed for the use of seafarers, such as fishermen. In fact, this loo is part of the archipelago’s largest island Maitresse that also comprises of a dozen lonely stone cottages that has been there since the 19th century.
Fun fact: The toilet has a neatly printed sign on it that reads: “This toilet has the distinction of being the most southern building in the British Isles. Please use with care!”
Minquiers, although abandoned, still carries certain imprints of past civilisations such as the ruins of a former hospital on its northern shore and a handful of eateries that are now exposed to decay.