Editing Lihou

{{short description|Small tidal island, on the west coast of Guernsey, Channel Islands}}
{{about|an island in the English Channel|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Lihou
| image_name       = File:L'Eree headland and Lihou island and causeway.jpg
| image_caption    = Lihou and the nearby L'Eree headland of Guernsey
| image_alt        =
| map_image        = Guernsey-Lihou.png
| map_caption      = Lihou is on the far left of the map
| location         =
| coordinates      = {{coord|49.4610|-2.6676|type:isle_globe:earth_region:GG|display=ti}}
| archipelago      = [[Channel Islands]]
| waterbody        = [[English Channel]]
| area_acre        = 36
| area_footnotes   = <ref name=booklet>Equivalent to 89 [[vergée]]s, a local measure of area. See {{cite book |url=http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2308&p=0 |title=Guernsey Facts and Figures |format=PDF |year=2006 |page=3 |publisher=States of Guernsey |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref>
| coastline_mi     =
| coastline_footnotes =
| elevation_ft     =
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount    =
| country          = [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]]
| population       = 1 (Warden) 
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYuZEyh-PnAC&pg=PA314 |title=Whitaker's Concise Almanack 2012 |page=314 |chapter=The Channel Islands |edition=144 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2011|isbn=9781408142301 }}</ref>
| website          = {{URL|www.lihouisland.com}}
| module = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Lihou Island and l'Erée Headland, Guernsey
| designation1_date = 1 March 2006
| designation1_number = 1608<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lihou Island and l'Erée Headland, Guernsey|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/1608|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}}
}}
[[File:Flag of Lihou.svg|thumb|Flag of Lihou since 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://guernseypress.com/news/2019/08/19/lihou-can-fly-own-flag/ |title=Lihou can fly own flag |author=Yves Le Marquand |date=19 August 2019 |work=Guernsey Press |access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref>]]

'''Lihou''' ({{IPAc-en|l|iː|ˈ|uː}}) is a small [[tidal island]] just off the west coast of the island of [[Guernsey]], in the [[English Channel]], between [[Great Britain]] and [[France]]. Administratively, Lihou forms part of the [[Parishes of Guernsey|Parish]] of [[Saint Peter's, Guernsey|St Peter's]] in the [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]],<ref name=booklet/> and is now owned by the parliament of Guernsey (the [[States of Guernsey]]), although there have been a number of owners in the past.<ref name=lihouisland/> Since 2006 the island has been jointly managed by the Guernsey Environment Department and the Lihou Charitable Trust. In the past the island 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 Convention|Ramsar wetland site]] for the preservation of rare birds and plants as well as historic ruins of a priory and a farmhouse.

==Etymology==
In common with several nearby islands, such as [[Jethou]] and [[Brecqhou]], the name contains the [[Norman language|Norman]] suffix ''[[-hou]]'', which means a small hill or a mound.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |title=History of Little Lihou |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/articles/2004/12/01/lihou_history_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=2 February 2014 |date=3 April 2008}}</ref> The name could have developed from the [[Breton language|Breton]] words ''lydd'' or ''ligg'', which means ''in or near water''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Report and Transactions |volume=3 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gwQAAAAYAAJ&q=Lihou |author=Guernsey Society of Natural Science and Local Research |publisher=Guernsey Star and Gazette Company |year=1900}}</ref> Historically there have also been a number of alternative forms of the name, including ''Lihoumel'', which was attested as early as the twelfth century,<ref name=lewis>{{cite book |title=A Topographical Dictionary of England |publisher=S. Lewis and Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-CzYeAyoIYC |author=Samuel Lewis |year=1833}}</ref>{{rp|310}}<ref name=williamberry/>{{rp|61}} and ''Lehowe'', which was mentioned in the sixteenth century.<ref name=ogier>{{cite book |title=Reformation and Society in Guernsey |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Rochester, NY |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBDT2ZJPLOYC |author=Darryl Mark Ogier |year=1996 |isbn=9780851156033 |oclc=44958657}}</ref>

Lihou is also a common surname on Guernsey, with records suggesting that the name has been in use in the Channel Islands since at least the eighteenth century,<ref>{{cite web |title=Lihou&nbsp;– 1841 Channel Islands Census |url=http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1841channel&so=2&pcat=CEN_CENTURY1800&MS_AdvCB=1&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=2&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn_x=1&gsln=Lihou&gsln_x=1&msbdy_x=1&msbpn_x=XO&msbpn__ftp_x=1&msrpn_x=XO&msrpn__ftp_x=1&msydy_x=1&msypn_x=XO&msypn__ftp_x=1&gskw_x=1&_83004002_x=1&cpxt=0&uidh=000&cp=0 |publisher=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=johnjacob/> including [[Royal Navy]] Captain John Lihou, who discovered and named the Australian [[Port Lihou Island]] and [[Lihou Reef]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Royal Naval Biography |volume=4 |page=487 |publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ny5EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA487 |author=John Marshall |year=1835 |oclc=85749387}}</ref> The name is also attested further afield, in a number of other countries, such as Australia, where for example Sergeant James Lihou, the son of a migrant from Guernsey, enlisted in the Australian forces in 1916 and was killed in action in 1918 in France.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lihou, James Victor (1895–1918) |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lihou-james-victor-7194 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=3 February 2014 |author=R. C. H. Courtney |year=1986}}</ref> There are also numerous instances of people with the surname having migrated from the Channel Islands to the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Matching passenger records |url=http://www.ellisisland.org/search/matchMore.asp?kind=exact&FNM=&LNM=lihou&x=53&y=3&dwpdone=1 |publisher=Statue of Liberty- Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref>

==Geography and climate==
Lihou is the furthest west of the [[Channel Islands]] and at low tide it is linked to the nearby L'Erée headland on Guernsey by a {{convert|400|m|ft|abbr=on}} stone causeway.<ref name=lihouisland>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.gg/lihouisland |title=Lihou Island |publisher=States of Guernsey |access-date=2 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221220705/http://www.gov.gg/lihouisland |archive-date=21 February 2014}}</ref> Apart from shingle beaches the island has a {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} high ridge running approximately north–south.<ref name=jncc>{{cite web |title=Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands |url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK22001.pdf |publisher=UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (defunct) |access-date=4 February 2014 |author=Joint Nature Conservation Committee |year=2006 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812024652/http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/ris/uk22001.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|5}} Lihou is mainly composed of weathered rock below which is granite and gneiss bedrock.<ref name=jncc/> The island has a mild oceanic climate like other Channel Islands, owing to being buffered by the nearby English and French coastlines.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate of the Channel Islands|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.gg/statsFrame1024.htm|publisher=Meteorological Observatory, Guernsey Airport|access-date=4 February 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235728/http://www.metoffice.gov.gg/statsFrame1024.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lihou shares the weather features of Guernsey, with winter temperatures falling to {{convert|4.4|C|abbr=on}} in February and summers with a high of {{convert|19.5|C|abbr=on}} in August.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guernsey |url=http://worldweather.wmo.int/195/c01373.htm |work=World Weather Information Service |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Lihou causeway - geograph.ci - 137.jpg|thumb|left|The Lihou causeway at low tide]]
Two small islets close to the island, Lissroy and Lihoumel, are breeding places for a number of endangered species of bird, including [[Eurasian oystercatcher]]s and [[common ringed plover]]s.<ref name=jncc/>{{rp|7}}<ref name=environment>{{cite web |title=Lihou Island |url=http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3510&p=0 |publisher=Environment Department, States of Guernsey |date=October 2012 |access-date=2014-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924023217/http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3510&p=0 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|2}} Numerous other species of bird and plant are found on Lihou such as [[peregrine falcon]]s and [[Erodium|sea storksbill]]. The Guernsey Environment Department does not allow visitors to go to the two islets and the shingle bank at certain times of the year in order to allow the birds to breed.<ref name=environment/>{{rp|3}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lihouisland.com/content/faqs-0 |title=FAQs |publisher=Lihou Charitable Trust |access-date=4 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202223836/http://www.lihouisland.com/content/faqs-0 |archive-date=2 February 2014 }}</ref> Approximately {{convert|800|m|mi|frac=2|abbr=off}} north of the island is a submerged ledge called Grand Etacre, which was considered to be a hazard to navigation in the nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sailingdirectio00whitgoog |title=Sailing Directions for the English Channel |page=[https://archive.org/details/sailingdirectio00whitgoog/page/n116 104] |author=Martin White |publisher=Admiralty Hydrographic Office |year=1835}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/26742/pages/3068/page.pdf |title=London Gazette |access-date=4 February 2014 |issue=26742 |page=3068 |date=22 May 1896}}</ref>

Lihou island was identified as a ''Site of Nature Conservation Importance'' in 1989 and as part of an ''Important Bird Area'', which includes parts of the shoreline of Guernsey.<ref name=environment/>{{rp|2}} On 1 March 2006 Lihou and L'Erée headland were designated a part of Guernsey's first [[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar wetland site]], covering about {{convert|427|ha|acres}} of land and sea.<ref name=environment/>{{rp|2}}<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Wetlands of International Importance |url=http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/sitelist_order.pdf |publisher=Ramsar Convention on Wetlands |access-date=2 February 2014 |page=29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Channel Island Marine Molluscs |publisher=Charonia Media |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bUJWZOu8TQC&pg=PA18 |author=Paul Chambers |year=2008|isbn=9780956065506 }}</ref> This has created a marine reserve for the extensive variety of wildlife including more than 200 species of seaweed on the shores of Lihou,<ref name=lihouisland/><ref name=jncc/><ref>{{cite web |title=The Annotated Ramsar List: United Kingdom |url=http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-list-anno-uk/main/ramsar/1-31-218%5E15868_4000_0__ |publisher=Ramsar Convention on Wetlands |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> and more than 150 species of birds observed in the area.<ref>{{cite news |title=Guernsey's L'Eree wetland is vital eco system |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/guernsey/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8493000/8493704.stm |access-date=5 February 2014 |date=2 February 2010|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

The [[Geology of Guernsey#Lihou Island|geology of Lihou Island]] is rather complex but closely associated with neighbouring Guernsey.

==History==
[[File:Rambles Among the Channel Islands by a Naturalist Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau hh.jpg|thumb|19th-century drawing of the priory ruins]]
The history of Lihou is closely linked to the history of Guernsey in particular and the Channel Islands in general. The earliest evidence of habitation is [[Mesolithic]] objects recovered from archaeological digs of the 1990s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Archaeology Collections in Detail|date=19 July 2012 |url=http://museums.gov.gg/archaeologydetail|publisher=Guernsey Museums and Galleries|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref> along with [[Neolithic]] era tombs on the nearby mainland.<ref name=letrepied>{{cite web |title=Le Trépied |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/articles/2008/10/03/le_trepied_dolmen_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 February 2014 |date=7 January 2009}}</ref><ref name=lecreux>{{cite web |title=Le Creux ès Faïes |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/articles/2008/12/05/creux_es_faies_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 February 2014 |date=8 December 2008}}</ref> The recorded history of Lihou began in 933 AD when the Channel Islands were seized from Brittany by the ruler of Normandy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Writing in an unwritten language: the case of Guernsey French |url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/appling/wp6/sallabank.pdf |work=Reading Working Papers in Linguistics |publisher=[[University of Reading]] |author=Julia Sallabank |page=1 |year=2002 |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref> Lihou and the nearby Neolithic tombs were traditionally believed to have been meeting places for local witches<ref name=letrepied/><ref name=lip>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=78256&p=0 |title=Lihou Island-Priory |publisher=States of Guernsey |access-date=4 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924023234/http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=78256&p=0 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and fairies.<ref name=lecreux/> This led to conflict with church authorities,<ref>{{cite book|title=Landscapes of Guernsey: With Alderney, Sark and Herm|publisher=Sunflower Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pg5bVsP8tzMC&pg=PA40|author=Geoff Daniel|edition=3|year=2003|isbn=9781856912273}}</ref> especially when a priory was established on Lihou dedicated to [[St Mary]] (known locally as ''Our Lady of Lihou'').<ref name=lempriere>{{cite book|title=Portrait of the Channel Islands|publisher=Hale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iF9nAAAAMAAJ&q=Lihou|author=Raoul Lemprière|year=1979|isbn=9780709176244}}</ref>{{rp|137}} A number of dates have been suggested for the establishment of the priory, with estimates ranging from as early as 1114<ref name=bbc/><ref name=lewis/>{{rp|321}}<ref name=williamberry/>{{rp|68}} to as late as 1156.<ref name=lempriere/>{{rp|38}} Records suggest that the priory was  an ''arrière-fief'' of the Benedictine abbey of [[Mont Saint Michel Abbey|Mont St Michel]] under whose authority it operated.<ref name=bbc/><ref name=lewis/><ref name=williamberry>{{cite book |title=The History of the Island of Guernsey |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.16940 |author=William Berry |year=1815}}</ref>{{rp|60}} Ownership of the island was granted to the abbey by [[Robert I, Duke of Normandy]] in the early part of the eleventh century.<ref name=johnjacob>{{cite book|title=Annals of Some of the British Norman Isles Constituting the Bailiwick of Guernsey|publisher=J. Smith|location=Paris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xFoGAQAAIAAJ |author=John Jacob|year=1830}}</ref>{{rp|492}} The priory is thought to have been constructed with contributions from the Guernseymen, who appear to have been fairly affluent at the time.<ref name=williamberry/>{{rp|68}}

[[File:Remains of St Mary's Priory, Lihou Island.jpg|thumb|left|The ruins of St Mary's Priory]]
In the early fourteenth century Lihou may have become the origin of a local legend about a wealthy Bailiff of Guernsey who attempted to have an innocent peasant executed on false charges of theft of silver cups.<ref name=legacy/> In either 1302<ref name=legacy>{{cite web |title=Gautier de la Salle: a "most notorious" henchman |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/channel_islands/guernsey/article_2.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 February 2014 |pages=2 |date=February 2004}}</ref> or 1304<ref name=apa>{{cite book|title=Channel Islands|publisher=APA Productions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0UsAQAAMAAJ&q=Lihou|oclc=225913106|year=1988}}</ref>{{rp|217}} a priory servant called Thomas le Roer was alleged to have murdered one of the monks. The Bailiff and several assistants attempted to apprehend Le Roer but he did not surrender and was subsequently killed by Ranulph Gautier, one of the Bailiff's assistants.<ref name=legacy/> Gautier tried to find sanctuary in a nearby church and eventually fled to England before returning to Guernsey when the king pardoned him.<ref name=legacy/> However some years later Gautier was tortured to death in [[Castle Cornet]] but it is not known why.<ref name=legacy/>

The priory was seized in 1414 by King [[Henry V of England]] along with a number of [[Alien priory|alien priories]].<ref name=lip/> In the first three centuries several Priors were appointed, sometimes with short tenures, but in 1500 Ralph Leonard was installed as Prior for life.<ref name=bbc/> However within decades the Priory was abandoned, with evidence of Thomas de Baugy being the final Prior around 1560.<ref name=bbc/> There is also evidence that the priory was allocated in 1566 to John After, who had also been appointed as the [[Dean of Guernsey]].<ref name=ogier/>

[[File:Remains of wall, Lihou - geograph.ci - 138.jpg|thumb|The remains of walls on Lihou]]
In 1759 the Governor of Guernsey, [[John West, 1st Earl De La Warr|John West]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Gazette |url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/9226/pages/1/page.pdf |publisher=The Stationery Office (part of the UK National Archives) |access-date=23 February 2014 |date=December 1752}}</ref> had the priory destroyed to prevent French forces from capturing the island during the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref name=bbc/> In the early nineteenth century a farmhouse was built on Lihou<ref name=bbc/> and the island was listed as being owned by Eleazar le Marchant, who held the post of lieutenant bailiff of Guernsey.<ref name=lewis/>{{rp|322}} In 1815 Eleazar made an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to suppress the seaweed industry based around Lihou.<ref name=johnjacob/>{{rp|189}} In a book published in the same year, William Berry noted the presence of an "iron hook of a gate hinge" on some rocks approximately three miles off the coast of Lihou, along with the remains of old roads, and surmised that Lihou may have been significantly larger in the past but that the sea had eroded a considerable portion.<ref name=williamberry/>{{rp|134–135}} During  the remainder of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century the island changed hands between a succession of owners, including James Priaulx in 1863, Arthur Clayfield in 1883 and Colonel Hubert de Lancey Walters in 1906.<ref name=bbc/>

During World War II the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans from 1940 to 1945 and Lihou was used for target practice by the German artillery,<ref name=lihouisland/> causing the farmhouse to collapse completely.<ref name=bbc/> During the summer of 1952 the ruins of the priory were studied in some detail by [[John Le Patourel|John]] and [[Jean le Patourel|Jean Le Patourel]].<ref name=marr>{{cite book|title=Guernsey people |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqU-AQAAIAAJ&q=Lihou |publisher=Phillimore |author=James Marr |year=1984|isbn = 9780850335293}}</ref>{{rp|127}} In 1961 Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Wootton purchased Lihou. Wootton had plans to develop the island, beginning in the following year by clearing the area of the old farmhouse in preparation for the building of a new farmhouse, with construction work continuing into 1963.<ref name=bbc/> He organized summer camps for young adults on the island and imported sheep from the [[Orkney Islands]] that could eat seaweed.<ref name=marr/>{{rp|172}} In 1983 Wootton decided to emigrate to [[Prince Edward Island]], in Canada, and the island was sold to Robin and Patricia Borwick.<ref name=apa/>{{rp|219}} In 1995 the island was bought by the States of Guernsey.<ref>{{cite web |title=Billet d'État |url=http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3844&p=0 |publisher=G.R. Rowland, Bailiff of Guernsey |access-date=23 February 2014 |page=12 |date=28 November 2007}}</ref> The ruins of the priory are possibly the most extensive religious relic in Guernsey.<ref name=lihouisland/> There have been several studies and excavations of the ruins, including archaeological investigations in 1996,<ref>{{cite web|title=The priory of Notre Dame, Lihou Island, Guernsey|url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/mprg_eh_2010/fullrecord.cfm?ref_id=3635&|publisher=La Société Guernesiaise|access-date=4 February 2014|author=Sebine H.|pages=153–164|year=1997}}</ref> and in 1998, when several twelfth-fourteenth century graves were unearthed.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Archaeology Section report for 1999: Lihou Priory archaeological excavations, 1998 and 1999 seasons|journal=Report and Transactions of la Société Guernesiaise|volume=24|url=http://www.biab.ac.uk/contents/24932|author=Heather Sebire|year=1999}}</ref>

==Economy==
[[File:Lihou farmhouse.jpg|thumb|The Lihou farmhouse]]
Historically, Lihou was an important location for a commercially significant industry based around the harvesting of seaweed (or ''vraic'' in the local language, [[Guernésiais]]). Records suggest considerable activity as early as the beginning of the nineteenth century.<ref name=johnjacob/>{{rp|492}} The value of the seaweed as a fertiliser was so great that in 1815 Eleazor Le Marchant, lieutenant bailiff of Guernsey and owner of Lihou, initiated a court case to prevent islanders from drying seaweed on the beaches of Lihou.<ref name=bbc/> The case eventually led to new regulations issued in 1818 by the Bailiwick legislature, known as the '''Chief Pleas''' at the time, based on a review of ancient royal decrees.<ref name=johnjacob/>{{rp|189}} However, the Royal Court of Guernsey ruled in favour of the islanders in 1821, with the effect that permission to harvest seaweed on Lihou was granted to inhabitants of the parishes of St Peter’s and St Saviour’s.<ref name=bbc/> More than a century later, in 1927, a factory was established on the island to produce iodine from the seaweed.<ref name=bbc/><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wW8KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA185 |author=Edward C. C. Stanford |journal=Journal of the Society of Arts|title=On the Economic Applications of Seaweed |year=1862 |pages=185–189}}</ref>

The economic mainstay of the island is now [[Ecotourism|ecological tourism]], based around the farmhouse, which is operated by the Lihou Charitable Trust, although overall responsibility for the island remains with the Environment Department of the States of Guernsey.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lihou House&nbsp;– in partnership with the island |url=http://www.lihouisland.com/content/lihou-house-partnership-island |publisher=Lihou Charitable Trust |access-date=3 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202195530/http://www.lihouisland.com/content/lihou-house-partnership-island |archive-date=2 February 2014 }}</ref> Lihou and several other small Channel Islands such as Herm and Sark issued their own stamps until 1969, when the States of Guernsey assumed responsibility for postal services in the Bailiwick, which had previously been provided by the UK Government.<ref name=lempriere/>{{rp|158}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Guernsey and Alderney stamps |url=http://www.guernseystamps.com/about-us/ |publisher=Philatelic Bureau, Guernsey Post |access-date=3 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220204444/http://www.guernseystamps.com/about-us/ |archive-date=20 February 2014 }}</ref>

==Protection==
The whole of the building known as the Priory of St Mary, Lihou and surrounding area was listed as a '''Protected Monument''' on 26 March 1938, reference PM236.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://planningexplorer.gov.gg/portal/servlets/LBSearchServlet?PKID=7880 |title=PM236 |publisher=States Of Guernsey}}</ref> From 1 March 2006, Lihou and the L'Erée headland were designated a part of Guernsey's first [[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar wetland site]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Official website|https://www.lihouisland.com/}}
* [http://www.ukotcf.org/pdf/Ramsar/22BailOfGuernsey.pdf Ramsar wetland]

{{Channel Islands}}
{{Good article}}

[[Category:Geography of Guernsey]]
[[Category:Tidal islands]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey]]
[[Category:Former populated places in the Channel Islands]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in Guernsey]]
[[Category:Wetlands of the Channel Islands]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Guernsey]]