Brecqhou

Brecqhou is a tiny islet in the Channel Islands, lying just off the western coast of Sark and separated from it only by the extremely narrow Le Goulliot Passage, covering a mere 74 acres.

The island occupies a genuinely unusual legal position: technically part of Sark’s own ancient feudal landholding system while also falling within the wider Bailiwick of Guernsey, a dual status that has made Brecqhou the subject of real constitutional debate in recent decades.

History

In 1993, the billionaire twins David and Frederick Barclay bought Brecqhou for £2.3 million and commissioned the architect Quinlan Terry to design an extraordinary castle, completed in 1996 at a cost of £60 million and often described as the largest private house built anywhere in Britain for at least two centuries. The finished building includes 22 cannons, a crypt and its own football pitch, a scale of construction wildly out of proportion to the islet’s tiny size.

Brecqhou has an unusual place in Sark’s constitution. When the Dame of Sark, Sibyl Hathaway, sold the island to Angelo Clarke in 1929, she transferred to it the seat in Sark’s parliament, the Chief Pleas, that belonged to the tenement of La Moinerie de Haut, one of the forty tenements whose holders once had to keep a musket for the island’s defence; the seat was lost in 2008. A later owner, Leonard Matchan, issued “Brechou” postage stamps on 30 September 1969, only for them to be suppressed the next day when the Guernsey Post Office took over. He lived on the island until his death in 1987, and the present owners issued stamps each year between 1999 and 2013.

More about Brecqhou

The Barclay brothers clashed repeatedly and publicly with Sark’s traditional government over their modernising ambitions, particularly their use of cars and a private helicopter, both prohibited under Sark’s long-standing island law banning motor vehicles; the resulting disputes generated years of lawsuits and regulatory wrangling between Brecqhou’s owners and their much smaller, fiercely traditional neighbour. Following David Barclay’s death in 2021, his brother Frederick became sole tenant of the island.

Following David Barclay’s death in 2021, his brother Frederick became sole tenant of the island.

Wildlife and area

Brecqhou’s castle remains a private residence today, though limited public visits occur by special arrangement. The island’s waters support Gannet, Puffin, Fulmar, European Storm Petrel, Manx shearwaters, Common Guillemots and Razorbill, alongside Grey Seal, Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and Peregrine Falcon.