Les Blancs Bois ... and other arches

When I reached my 100th blip I decided to give myself a challenge for my next blipday. During my travels around the island I would have to blip one hundred Guernsey arches. The first half of my task was relatively easy as I could recall where many were located. The second half however was much trickier and towards the end involved frenetic scouring of numerous distant lanes. Anyway I was pleased to finally reach and exceed my target and so here for my 200th blip, are the best of them.

The Guernsey Arch is a feature of many old farmhouses. They were built between 1400 and 1650. There are six general styles which evolved over that period and which can therefore be used to date the houses. There are two distinct groups of arches, a true semi circle and a segment of a circle. The former is based on a Breton design and the latter has a Norman influence. Over time, many arches were removed from houses as they became unfashionable. They often ended up as gateways to the property along the roadside.

Some larger residences had arched gateways through which carriages could be driven with an integral pedestrian arch adjoining it. There are four of these in my blip. I blipped the one at Les Blancs Bois this morning to conclude my challenge.

Discovering all of these arches has been fascinating and I found some amazing parts of the island that I'd not seen before. Some of the buildings in which the arches were ensconced were themselves quite photogenic, so I expect some of them will feature in future blips.

On a final note, thankyou subscribers for following my Island perambulations and for all of your comments which are much appreciated.