Ebenezer's heritage on the line?

Tuesday 07 May 2019

With Guernsey’s only quarry reaching its limit, plans to open up the Chouet headland are progressing. But would those plans destroy an important part of local heritage?

Edward Chaney was instrumental in getting ‘The Book of Ebenezer Le Page’ published and he believes the island is missing a trick.

“‘My house is easy to find,’ I said, ‘along the north side of Grand Havre and round the Chouey and you can’t miss it. There is a mill and an apple-tree behind.’”

‘The Book of Ebenezer Le Page’ was written by Guernseyman G B Edwards and has grown in popularity across the world since it was published in 1981. It features a “cantankerous, opinionated and charming” man who has spent his life at ‘Les Moulins’ – a fictional Guernsey granite cottage on the Chouet headland.

Pictured: The view from Ebenezer's fictional home.

“I am very concerned and appalled about this piece of Guernsey heritage being mucked up,” said Mr Chaney.

G B Edwards dedicated the novel to Mr Chaney who now owns the rights to it, following Edwards’ death in 1976.

“As much as anyone has hypothesised where Ebenezer’s cottage is, it is there,” he continued, referring to an area around the Martello Tower and magazine that currently stand on the Chouet headland. “It is where he lives and it is an essential part of the context. He hears the Vale Church bells across the bay.”

The book was in print with Penguin for a time and is still popular today, remaining in print with New York Review in the ‘Classics’ section.

Chouet is a central location in the novel and is referenced throughout: “Ebenezer Le Page is of the north and lives at the Chouet: spelt so according to the map; but Ebenezer has never seen a map. When he writes his book, he spells the places with which he is familiar as he says them. He therefore writes Chouey,”.

Pictured: The magazine and Martello tower referred to by Edward Chaney.

Following the recent release and capitalisation on ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ film, Mr Chaney believes the island should be doing more to embrace Ebenezer Le Page’s roots. 

“[The novel] must be the greatest work of art by a native Guernseyman and they don’t make enough fuss of it,” he said. “Ebenezer Le Page is an extraordinary creation and Guernsey literary culture should be encouraged.” 

Mr Chaney believes, rather than digging it up, the Chouet headland should be used as a “cultural site of great status”, attracting tourists and encouraging locals to learn more about Edwards and the fictional life of one of the island’s best-loved characters.

He told Express the last few decades have been “frustrating” and that a realisation of the novel’s history and importance to the island is “long overdue”.

“[The site] should be at the heart of any celebration of Guernsey’s greatest novelist,” he added.

The States have published a Draft Development Framework for the headland and are welcoming comments from the public before 17:00 on 7 June.