It’s hard to define Jersey. Despite being an island that sits only 12 miles off the coast of Normandy, it is not French. And while the Channel Islands (of which Jersey forms part) were the only remaining territories retained by King John of England when he lost the Duchy of Normandy in 1204, it is not English either.

Not English, not French, not even part of the European Union – then what is it? In fact, Jersey is a British Crown dependency, and has been sitting there in the English Channel happily self-governing away since the 13th century.

The island heaves with a wide array of historical attractions – medieval castles vie for attention with prehistoric burial grounds, all presided over by the sinister impact of Nazi occupation during World War II.

One of the most famous castles in Jersey is that of Mont Orgueil, looming over the town of Gorey. Construction started in 1204 after King John’s embarrassing loss of the rest of the Duchy of Normandy, but it appears that its defensive capabilities eventually became obsolete and it was consigned to use as the island’s only jail.

The view from the top over Gorey and the southern coast was excellent, as we rubbed shoulders with bronze statues of archers on the battlements. The castle was also topped with more recent fortifications, as it was used by the Nazis as a garrison during occupation, and these were deliberately built to blend in with the castle itself to help camouflage them from attack by Allied forces.

In a rather more dilapidated state was Grosnez Castle, a ruined 14th century castle built on the north-west coast of the island. Here, the crumbling entrance gate and walls are all that remains of a rather unfortunate endeavour built in 1330.

While from the outset the castle looks to be in an excellent defensible position, being surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs, it had a rather fundamental built-in error – there was no water supply. As water is a fairly essential facet of human survival, the castle was ultimately abandoned and is now clothed in bright yellow gorse flowers and circled by the graceful forms of Fulmars which nest on the cliffs below.

While Grosnez and Mont Orgueil are some of the more famous castles, there were numerous other fortifications dotted around the island – all constructed to provide protection against French invasion. These included the formidable bulk of Elizabeth Castle which the ferry passes as it comes in to dock in Jersey, coastal towers such as Le Hocq Martello Tower, and those built on rocky outcrops offshore, including the rather lonely looking La Rocco Tower.

While castles and towers were thus very much in evidence, the island was also dotted with monuments from a more distant past. None of these were more impressive than La Houge Bie, which is dated at around 3,500 BC. Consisting of a massive mound of earth and rocks over 12 metres high (bizarrely topped with a medieval chapel), this was a Neolithic ritual and burial site and is one of the largest and best preserved of its kind in Europe.

We made our way through the low entrance at the mound’s base and shuffled like hunchbacks into the cool confines of the tunnel beyond. Here, a passageway led 18 metres into the darkness, eventually coming to a stop at the very centre of the mound where the ceremonial chambers lay. It was very evocative standing in the darkness, lit only by a few subtle lights, while the bright sunlight glimmered in the tunnel mouth far behind us.

From the ancient past then, to the grim realities of Jersey’s more recent history. Between 1940 and 1945 the Channel Islands were occupied by the Nazis, creating an ever-lasting black mark on their history. As World War II raged, the island was turned into a literal island fortress, with POWs being forced to create vast networks of gun emplacements, bunkers and trenches (at great suffering and human cost).

It seems that wherever one goes in Jersey, reminders of this bleak period in the island’s history are apparent, be it the large restored gun emplacements at Noirmont Point or the overgrown bunkers at Petit Point, which I inadvertently stumbled upon while walking along a picturesque beach. Indeed, even historical monuments, such as Mont Orgueil and La Houge Bie were used by the occupying forces as command bunkers or garrisons.

We decided we needed a break from the island’s formidable history and went in search of its natural beauty instead. Jersey has one of the largest tidal ranges on earth and at low tide miles of the sea floor are exposed.

This revealed a fascinating moonscape of rock pools, each replete with small fish, crabs and anemones. These pools were great fun for children and adults alike, and we spent hours poking about in the shallow waters as various creatures scrambled for cover.

It was, however, important to keep one eye on the tide’s return, which happens at impressive speed and can easily catch the unawares far from shore and stranded.

The large tidal changes also reveal some truly spectacular beaches. Perhaps the most breath-taking of all was Plemont Bay, which we visited just as the tide was dropping. Surrounded by crumbling cliffs and accessed by a long winding flight of stairs, it was initially rather limited in size. Then, as the tide continued to recede a vast expanse of brown sand was revealed, along with some more intimate and secluded bays and water pools. It was easy to move away from the throngs gathered at the entrance and find somewhere a little more private.

Finally, no visit to Jersey is complete without a trip to the world-famous Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. The trust was founded in 1963 with the express aim of trying to reverse the fortunes of a wide range of endangered animals through captive breeding, education and in-country conservation initiatives.

To call it a zoo is to do it a disservice – the enclosures were large and thoughtfully designed to maximise the quality of life for the animals inside and the over-riding aim is to breed species clinging to the edge of extinction for eventual release back into the wild. Western lowland gorillas reclined in the sun, young Sumatran orang-utans engaged in mock battles with each other and a colony of short-tailed meerkats observed everyone with their usual wide-eyed inquisitiveness, noses aquiver.

Walk-through exhibits allowed visitors to get closer to the animals in their ‘natural’ environs while keeping disturbance to a minimum. Success stories are numerous and include the pink pigeons and echo parakeets of Mauritius, which – thanks in large part to the trust’s endeavours – are now thriving once again in their island home.

With its unique history, natural beauty and numerous visitor attractions, Jersey was an excellent destination for a relaxing family break. And as we stocked up on liquor while travelling away on the only genuinely duty-free ferry within the borders EU, we toasted King John for managing to keep it within his realm, albeit rather tenuously.