From new placards at the Naval Signals HQ to an expansion of the ‘Museum After Hours’ programme, with many more ways to engage with local history planned for throughout the year, Guernsey Museums has revealed how it will entertain the public throughout 2025.
While the island’s main heritage sites have been closed for the winter, museum staff have been getting ready for their busiest seasons with visitors welcomed back from this week
Unveiling the new plaques at the German Naval Signals HQ, the museum’s team revealed that they want to both engage and entertain the public as much as possible this year.
There are some changes at Castle Cornet, Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum, and Candie too, with new activities, trails and dressing up opportunities too.
The Guernsey seat of German Naval Intelligence was bigger than you think
Sat at the top of St Jacques hill, the German Naval Signals HQ is tucked under a small house, down a set of stairs. It runs wide, but not too deep underground.
Rooms with dressed mannequins are positioned and posed as if they were in action, as German officers would have been 80 years ago.
It’s a proper maze which twists and turns with windows peering from room to room said Robert Steen, a Visitor Assistant at the GNSHQ.
“Not many people know about this place, because it’s the least known of the four Guernsey Museums run by the States. There are six different rooms to walk around here. It’s absolutely fascinating.
“It was only completed in 1944 so only about a year before the end of the war, fortunately. It used to house about 40 members of staff every hour of the day. There was a staff garrison of about 600 people that would be working here.
“You can see there are also hooks on the wall where they would hang the hammocks, where people would sleep at night. Because after 6 June 1944, D Day, the Germans that were here were not actually allowed out, so they all had to stay in here together because of communications. This was a central hub of German intelligence communication.”
The site has had a spruce up ahead of the current 2025 Season, with new placards installed to help guide visitors, said Mr Steen.
“I think that when people come to a museum, they need to have information, and this is a great way of doing that.”
The first site for the expanded Musuem’s After Hours
Last year Guernsey Museums launched ‘Museums After Hours’ at Candie, which allowed interested visitors behind the scenes after the site is normally closed, to get inspired and recreate some of the exhibits on offer.
They were “immensely popular” and so they’ve been expanded to include a larger range of sites.
The first of these is due to take place on Monday 31 March from 18:00, turning the German Naval Signals HQ into an art room.
“We’re starting the sketch nights off at the Naval signals because it’s had a bit of a refresh,” said Sophie Brehaut, an Assistant Curators at Guernsey Museum.
“It’s just a really unique environment for people to come when it’s closed, when it’s quiet, and just kind of sketch a really unique Second World War site.
“We have, I think, almost 3000 pieces of art that we care for, so by inviting artists into the spaces that we work in every day, we get to see what things inspire them and which details they pick out. I mean, the signals bunker is full of original fabrication, so it’s quite industrial. It’s really interesting to see what catches people’s eye and how they record our sites.”
More to come and more on offer
Along with the new, modern information panels, and the expanded offering of ‘Museums After Hours’, there’s also a series of refreshed educational activities available, including dressing-up inspired by Alan Turing and Violette Szabo, and an Enigma code machine, along with an expanded merchandise offering, including Liberation 80 items.
The island’s annual celebration of the end of the Occupation takes on an extra significance this year, as the Channel Islands mark 80 years since the end of Nazi rule.
The extra emphasis on local history has been at the centre of the museum service’s plans according to Helen Glencross, the Head of Heritage Services.
“We felt it was really appropriate to look at the German naval signals and see what we could do to give it a bit of a refresh and give it a bit of a push for this season. I think it’s one of our hidden treasures, actually, because not a lot of people know about this site, and yet, when people come here, they absolutely love it. So 2025, is going to be the season to come and see this particular historic site.
“As we approach Guernsey’s 80th Liberation anniversary, it’s the perfect time to reflect on our history while enjoying everything these unique sites have to offer. Whether it’s exploring Castle Cornet, uncovering shipwreck stories at Fort Grey, or stepping back in time at the German Naval Signals HQ, there’s something for everyone.”
You can find a full diary of the offering by Guernsey Museums online on its website HERE.