Îles Saint-Marcouf
group of two small islands off the coast of Normandy, France
Îles Saint-Marcouf comprise two small uninhabited islands off the coast of Normandy, France. They lie in the Baie de la Seine region of the English Channel and are 6.5 km (4.0 mi) east of the coast of the Cotentin Peninsula at Ravenoville and 13 km (8 mi) from the island of Tatihou and the harbour at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. In addition to the fortifications described below, on the larger island there is a lighthouse that dates to 1948.
The larger island, île du Large, is 500 m (1,600 ft) east of the smaller île de Terre. They have a total area of 1,400 ha (3,500 acres) and a maximum altitude of 10 m (33 ft).
The islands take their name from Saint Marcouf, a saint born in Bayeux, whom it was said could cure anyone of scrofula. He died on the Îles Saint-Marcouf on 1 May 588 CE. There was a monastic presence on the islands until the 15th century.
British occupation
During the French Revolutionary Wars, Britain occupied the islands for nearly seven years as a strategic forward base. In July 1795, British sailors and marines from the Western Frigate Squadron under Captain Sidney Smith in HMS Diamond occupied the islands. Smith dedicated several gunboats, including Badger, Hawke, Shark and Sandfly, the last purpose-built for the role, to provide materials and manpower for fortifying the islands and establishing a garrison.
The public source identifies “Îles Saint-Marcouf” as group of two small islands off the coast of Normandy, France. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Îles, Saint-Marcouf and group.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3593548. Authority coordinates are 49.494, -1.150. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948 and 1795.
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This entry incorporates text from “Îles Saint-Marcouf” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.