Torteval, Guernsey

{{Short description|Parish in southwestern Guernsey}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Torteval

| native_name = Tortévas

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| settlement_type = Parish

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| image_flag = Flag of Torteval Parish, Guernsey.svg

| image_map = Parish of Torteval in Guernsey.svg

| mapsize = 150px

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Location of Torteval in Guernsey

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| subdivision_type = Crown Dependency

| subdivision_name = Guernsey, Channel Islands

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| leader_title = Electoral district

| leader_name = West

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 3.1

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| population_footnotes =

| population_total = 1017

| population_as_of = 2019

| population_density_km2 = auto

| timezone1 = GMT

| timezone1_DST = UTC+01

| website = {{URL|https://torteval.gg/}}

| footnotes =

}}

Torteval (Guernésiais: Tortévas) is the smallest of the ten parishes of Guernsey, one of the western parishes.{{cite web|url=http://www.guernseyinformation.com/torteval.html|title=Torteval-Parish-Guernsey|website=Guernsey Information|accessdate=11 November 2018}} Its name comes from the Guernésiais words for "twisting valley". The parish is split in two by the parish of St. Pierre du Bois, with the part in the east known as Torteval. The detached peninsula to the west is named Pleinmont-Torteval. It includes the westernmost point in Guernsey, and a nature reserve. The reserve, designed for birds in the 1970s, was to be redeveloped for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.{{Cite web |title=Torteval nature reserve to be renewed for jubilee |author=BBC Guernsey |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-15183250|year=2011 |publisher=BBC News |work=Bbc.co.uk |accessdate=19 June 2012 }}

In Guernésiais, people from Torteval were nicknamed "ânes à pid dé ch'fa", or "donkeys with horse's hooves".

In the centre of the parish is a church designed by John Wilson and built in 1818, with the oldest bell in the Channel Islands, dating from 1432. The church is built on the site of an earlier church, consecrated on 4 November 1140, that had fallen into disrepair.{{cite book |first=William |last=Berry |title=The history of Guernsey from the remotest period of antiquity to the year 1814}}{{rp|68}} The current church has the tallest steeple in Guernsey, which is intended to be used as a sea mark. It was proposed in 1849 to install a light on the steeple, but after inspection by Trinity House it was found unsuitable.{{cite book |last=Dafter |first=Ray |title=Guernsey Sentinel |publisher=Matfield Books |date=2003 |ISBN=0-9540595-1-4}}{{rp|30}}

The postal code for street addresses in this parish begins with GY8.

The parish produces a regular magazine called Les Tortévalais.{{cite web|url=https://www.behance.net/gallery/32305137/Les-Tortvalais|title=Behance|website=www.behance.net|accessdate=11 November 2018}}