L’Eperquerie Common is the open healthland on the top of the northern headland. The monks (present on Sark between the 6^th and 14^th centuries) used the openness of the Common to dry their fish and conger eels on wooden stakes. The old Norman French word for the stake was ‘perques’, giving the headland its name.

The Eperquerie Landing was the main port until Creux harbour was opened up in 1588. The Landing was vulnerable to invasion from the French and as such the headland was fortified. You can see the remains of the old fort walls to this day. The square bastion is still in place as are the remains of the old archway above the path to the landing. The archway would have held large wooden gates with guardhouses both sides of the fort wall in order to defend the island from invasion.

From the time of Helier de Carteret until 1880, Sark had its own militia, ie ordinary citizens obliged to enrol for military duty. The half round tower was built around 1800as a shelter for the militia during target practice.

The cannons are 18^th Century and were used as part of the island’s defences during the Napoleonic wars.

The upturned cannons were not issued by the English Crown but were salvaged from the shipwreck of the East Indiaman’s ship, The Valentine.