JERSEY - Gorey Village & Mont Orgueil
Gorey Village must be one of the most photographed parts of Jersey and deservedly so, but Gorey looked completely different up to the the latter half of the 19th century when ship building was the major industry. Early photographs of this area are fascinating - some will be shown here in this Gallery.

In the 1870s ship building on the shore had nearly ceased and completely finished in the early 1880s. This eventually led to to the beach being reclaimed and a coast road being laid, plus of course the railway track (finished in 1891).
Mount Orgueil Castle Gorey Jersey No 527 zoom
Mount Orgueil Castle Gorey Jersey No 527 zoom

Note 'British Union Hotel', so a very early image. The original negative was made of paper not glass, hence the paper fibres seen in the photo. It also meant that the paper blurred the image compared to a negative made of glass.

Glass negatives did not become popular until Frederick Scott Archer gave his faster process to the world in 1851.

Ref: 2025-03-13-0009-zoom

Location: Mont Orgueil Gorey Jersey

Mount Orgueil Castle Gorey Jersey No 527 zoom

Note 'British Union Hotel', so a very early image. The original negative was made of paper not glass, hence the paper fibres seen in the photo. It also meant that the paper blurred the image compared to a negative made of glass.

Glass negatives did not become popular until Frederick Scott Archer gave his faster process to the world in 1851.

Ref: 2025-03-13-0009-zoom

Location: Mont Orgueil Gorey Jersey