Jersey's less than five mile road

The five mile road was first built in the 1880s

One of the most famous roads in the Island is Le Route de Mielle, although it is probably better known as the 'five mile road'.

Despite its fame, the origins of the name aren't that well known.

The real name of the road, Le Route de Mielle, comes from Norse words meaning Sand Dunes and the road came about due to an increase in development.

Before the development of the road St Ouennais farmers would use the beach to get around the parish.

We spoke to Frank Falle, the Chairman of the History section of the Societe Jersiaise and he explained that the road was first built in the 1880s.

He started his exploration of the origins of the name 'five mile road' by going back in history to when it was first built.

"From the maps I've got I reckon it was built in the 1880s. That puts us into a very interesting period because there was no road along where the five mile road is," Frank explained.

Mielle is Norse and means Sand Dunes so it was the road through the sand dunes. Frank Falle

That meant that farmers wanting to get from their farms to Corbiere or L'Etacq would have to drive along the beach itself.

"If they wanted to get on to St Ouen beach they had to come from where they live up on their farms straight down to the beach.

"The beach itself was the link road if they wanted to travel in a Corbiere direction or a L'Etacq direction," said Frank.

So, if there was a perfectly good beach that was already servicing the needs of the farmers, why build a road? Well it was all about the tourists.

According to Frank Falle there was an increase in tourist interest in the island and "at this time the island was begging to build up on a visitor trade."

Frank explains that there were also hotels popping up. "A lot of the hotels started to be built, the Grand Hotel the Somerville Hotel. Jersey was expanding to accommodate and improve the island for accessibility to visitors," he said.

Le Route de Mielle comes from Norse origin meaning Sand Dunes

But it isn't actually called 'the five mile road'.

The road is called 'Le Route de Mielle' and the name is of Norse origin: "Mielle is Norse and means Sand Dunes so it was the road through the sand dunes," Frank explained.

The colloquial name 'five mile road' comes from the fact that "if you stand at Corbiere and look at L'Etacq that is about five and a half miles worth of distance."