ALDERNEY, the northernmost of the larger Channel Islands, 31m. N.E.-S.W., average width mile. Area, 1,g62ac. Pop. (1931) 1,52r. it lies 49°43' N. and 2°12' W. On the north coast, Braye harbour, with a fine breakwater, communicates twice or three times weekly with St. Peter Port, Guernsey, and weekly with Cherbourg, France. Rocks fringe all the coasts. A dangerous channel nearly gm. wide, known as the Race, separates it from Cap de la Hague. Here the remnant of the French fleet under Tourville escaped after the defeat of La Hogue in 1692. To the west, the Swinge (Singe), a narrower and equally difficult tidal race, separates Alderney from the uninhabited islands of Burhou, Ortach and others ; still further west are the Casquets (lighthouse) which have a long record of shipwrecks. Alderney is a tableland 3ooft. high in the west, but dropping towards the north-east. On the south the cliffs are very steep; elsewhere rocky headlands alternate with open sandy bays, of which the most im portant are Braye and Longy. At the latter there are evidences of settlement in prehistoric and in Roman times. Cambrian grits occur along the north-east coast, and south of Longy give rise to the Hanging Rocks; diorite and granite occupy the central, and granite-porphyry the south-west portion of the island. There are a few streams, but water is obtained mainly from wells. Trees are scarce. The town of St. Anne stands almost in the centre of the island with its arable land around it. This is largely unen closed and still shows the old arrangement in strips. It was long under a system of continuous corn-growing, now superseded. It is encircled by the grazing lands which were communal until 1830. The modern church (185o), in Early English style, is the work of Sir Gilbert Scott, and a memorial to the Le Mesurier family, in which the hereditary governorship of the island was vested until the abolition of the office in 1825. There is a chain of derelict fortifications round the north coast, but Fort Tourgis on the west and Fort Essex on the east are still used as barracks. The soil of Alderney is fertile, grain and roots are grown and early potatoes are exported. Alderney cattle are largely reared and are usually kept tethered, but the island does not possess a stock book separate from Guernsey. Alderney is included in the bailiwick of Guernsey. Its court, consisting of a judge, six jurats, attorney general, prevot, greffier and sergent, is subordinate to that of Guernsey. For its relations to the constitution of the bailiwick and for its histoly see CHANNEL ISLANDS.