Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2011
The site of Le Câtel lies in the parish of Trinity in the north-east corner of Jersey, close to the village and harbour of Rozel (figs. 1 and 2). The defensive characteristics of the promontory are best appreciated from the contour plan (fig. 3). The archaeological site is located at the end of a long narrow plateau bounded on the north and east by cliffs plunging steeply to the sea and on the south by a deep valley cut by a stream flowing into Rozel bay. A subsidiary valley bites deeply into the south flank of the promontory leaving only a narrow neck of land, some 200m across, between its head and the sea cliffs on the north. This approach is barred by a massive earthwork which gives the site its name—Le Câtel.