1378 GUERNSEY (Lihou) - Lihou Island

Lihou is a small tidal island located just off the west coast of the island of Guernsey, at low tide being linked to the nearby L'Erée headland, on Guernsey, by a 400m stone causeway. Part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown depencencies, in the past was used by locals for the collection of seaweed for use as a fertiliser, but today Lihou is mainly used for tourism, including school trips. Lihou is also an important centre for conservation, forming part of a Ramsar wetland site for the preservation of rare birds and plants as well as historic ruins of a priory and a farmhouse. Apart from shingle beaches, the island has a 20m high ridge running approximately north-south.

The earliest evidence of habitation in Lihou are from Mesolithic. The island and the nearby Neolithic tombs were traditionally believed to have been meeting places for local witches. This led to conflict with church authorities, especially when a priory was established in the 12th century, an arriére-fief of the Benedictine abbey of Mont St. Michel under whose authority it operated. The priory was seized in 1414 by King Henry V of England, but eventually it was abandoned around 1560. In 1759 the Governor of Guernsey had the priory destroyed to prevent French forces from capturing the island during the Seven Years' War. In the early 19th century, a farmhouse was built on Lihou. In a book published in 1815, William Berry noted the presence of an "iron hook of a gate hinge" on some rocks, approximately three miles out at sea, along with the remains of old roads, and surmised that Lihou may have been significantly larger in the past.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of the second set of the series Marine Life, which focuses on crustaceans, a group of animals that includes shrimps, prawns, crabs and lobsters. Designed by Bridget Yabsley and issued on July 30,2014, it comprises 6 stamps:
• Chancre (41p)
• Lobster (54p)
• Velvet Swimming Crab (55p)
• Hermit Crab (66p) - it's on the postcard
• Squat Lobster (74p)
• Spider CrabCilancre (83p)

References
Lihou - Wikipedia

Sender: Kathy Allen-James
Sent from Saint Peter Port (Guernsey), on 28.09.2014