La Rocco Tower

The Island break like no other

Sleeps 6

£400 per night

Book now

Join your very own guide for a once-in-a-lifetime experience staying overnight at the iconic La Rocco Tower. Completely surrounded by sea twice a day, La Rocco Tower boasts unrivalled views of St Ouen’s Bay.

Accommodating up to six people plus your guide, La Rocco Tower offers a truly unique experience. Standing on a rocky outcrop off the west coast of Jersey, the Tower offers guests the ultimate retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the main land. Located in Jersey’s National Park, half a mile offshore, it’s perfect for anyone looking for adventure.

Each group staying at La Rocco Tower has their own personal guide who stays with you throughout and ensures a safe excursion to the Tower. They will arrange the best access times and ensure you get the most out of your stay. During your stay you can watch the incoming tide from the parapet and enjoy stunning views of the sunset from the roof.

Built in 1796, the Tower has been an iconic Jersey landmark for over two centuries. Spread over two floors with a table seating area and a wood burning stove on the ground floor and the bunk room on the upper floor with a basic chemical toilet. There are six bunks in the upper room for which we recommend you bring sleeping bags and pillows, with a separate room for your guide on the ground level. Whilst the facilities are basic, there is solar power for lighting and the fridge. La Rocco Tower has no running water and guests are required to bring their supply of drinking water. Guests are required to carry all their food, clothes and sleeping bags out to the Tower. In addition all waste (including bagged toilet waste) will need to be brought back and disposed of on shore.

Please note La Rocco Tower is only available to rent when the tide and weather allow safe and manageable access. It is not accessible by car and is it not suitable for small children. Bookings are subject to cancellation should the weather conditions present outside of approved operational levels. Please see booking terms and conditions.

Images with thanks to:

Paul Marshall Photography

Chris Brookes

and artist Ian Rolls

"La Rocco, first restored by the Société and the National Trust in the 1970s, is an icon of conservation in St Ouen’s Bay but has not been available to the public. We are really excited to finally open it up for everyone to enjoy"

Facilities in detail

Basic coastal tower property
Guide required for all visits and overnight stays
Access dependant on weather and tides.
1 communal room with 6 bunk beds – Linen not provided
1 separate bunk area for the guide
Basic dry-powder toilet
Drinking water not provided
Crockery & cutlery provided
Wood burning stove
Fridge
Steep stairs
Dogs not allowed
No disabled access
Not suitable for small children
Wi-Fi not available

Pricing

2022

La Rocco Tower is £400.00 per night which includes the cost of a guide for the night.

Access times are dependant on tide and weather.

2023 Pricing available here

[{"title":"La Rocco Tower","lon":-2.2341,"lat":49.198319}]

[{"title":"Elizabeth Castle","slug":"elizabeth-castle","lon":-2.1256,"lat":49.1754},{"title":"Archirondel Tower","slug":"archirondel-tower","lon":-2.023641,"lat":49.21199},{"title":"Radio Tower","slug":"radio-tower","lon":-2.239151,"lat":49.180778},{"title":"Barge Aground","slug":"barge-aground","lon":-2.232569,"lat":49.227589},{"title":"Fort Leicester","slug":"fort-leicester","lon":-2.081813,"lat":49.240333},{"title":"Cider Barn Apartment at Hamptonne","slug":"cider-barn-apartment-at-hamptonne","lon":-2.135972,"lat":49.224385},{"title":"Stable Apartment at Hamptonne","slug":"stable-apartment-at-hamptonne","lon":-2.1352711,"lat":49.2245175},{"title":"Kempt Tower","slug":"kempt-tower","lon":-2.227575,"lat":49.221225},{"title":"Fisherman\u2019s Cottage","slug":"fishermans-cottage","lon":-2.10697174072266,"lat":49.1756437538935},{"title":"La Cr\u00eate Fort","slug":"la-crete-fort","lon":-2.11195,"lat":49.251644},{"title":"L\u2019Etacquerel Fort","slug":"letacquerel-fort","lon":-2.067007,"lat":49.23828},{"title":"Lewis\u2019s Tower","slug":"lewiss-tower","lon":-2.233982,"lat":49.229754},{"title":"Seymour Tower","slug":"seymour-tower","lon":-2.025325,"lat":49.161838},{"title":"La Rocco Tower","slug":"la-rocco-tower","lon":-2.2341,"lat":49.198319}]

History

La Rocco Tower was built between 1796-1801 and it derives its name from La Rocque Ho or Rocque Hou, meaning rocky islet. It was one of 30 coastal towers proposed by Sir Henry Seymour Conway when he was appointed Governor of Jersey. A programme of construction of round towers around the coast of Jersey began in 1778, but it was not until the French later threatened invasion from St Malo in 1794 that serious consideration was given to building a coastal tower at La Rocco to guard the southern end of St Ouen’s Bay.

La Rocco was the 23rd and last coastal tower in Jersey to be built following the Conway design – also being the largest and most heavily armed of the whole series. It maintained a military role into the mid-19th century, as evidenced by a Royal Engineers report in January 1848 which records that La Rocco Tower and Battery (as it had by then become known) was armed with five 32 Pounder guns.

The tower’s military role declined in the second half of the 19th century until in 1896 La Rocco Tower and Battery was included in a list of War Department properties identified as available for disposal through cession or sale. The States of Jersey eventually bought the site from the Crown in 1923 for £100, for the purpose of providing a landmark for shipping (although there is no evidence that it was ever used as such).

During World War Two, St. Ouen’s Bay was considered as the most likely beach for an Allied landing. The German occupying forces constructed a large number of defensive structures throughout the area including the modification and re-use of earlier fortifications, whose strategic position and robustness of construction again proved to be of military value. The Germans adapted La Rocco Tower and installed landmines around the tower for use against the Allies, the explosives being wired to La Braye slipway. The accidental detonation of some of these landmines in 1943 inflicted damage to the tower, particularly the loss of parts of the projecting machicolations and the breaching of the southern part of the gun platform (it is most likely that this damage was caused by an accidental explosion rather than being the result of deliberate target practice by German artillery as is a commonly held belief). The expelled granite masonry is still strewn over the surrounding shale reef to this day.

The physical condition of the tower deteriorated steadily in the following decades and in the late 1960s there was a public appeal to protect the tower. The La Rocco Tower Appeal Committee raised funds to carryout repairs and works began on 5th May 1969.

The restoration was a great example of the Island community pulling together to save its built heritage, and through the campaigning efforts of the Association of Jersey Architects with the National Trust for Jersey, and with the help of funds raised by public donation, La Rocco Tower was finally restored by 1972.