Forest

Forest (formerly known as Trinity) takes its name from once-dense woodland that has largely vanished from the modern landscape. The parish functions as Guernsey's southern gateway: the airport sits at the Forest boundary, making this the first territory most visitors encounter and the last they see departing. The German Occupation Museum near the parish church preserves Channel Islands' WWII experience through artifacts and documentation, a counterweight to the military hardware scattered across cliffs elsewhere. The Forest Floral Group has embraced the parish's gateway role, maintaining welcoming plantings that frame arrivals. The parish church, dating to medieval origins, anchors spiritual continuity while surrounding development transforms the landscape. Forest's position on Guernsey's southern plateau creates different agricultural conditions than the northern parishes: less exposure to prevailing winds, more sheltered growing conditions that once supported the horticultural industry now in decline. The parish connects to St Martin to the east and St Andrew to the north, creating a central-southern cluster of residential parishes that absorb population pressure from constrained St Peter Port. Modern Forest balances its airport function—noise, traffic, security infrastructure—with attempts to maintain village character in areas beyond the runway's impact zone. By 2026, Forest's gateway position intensifies as Guernsey debates airport expansion against quality-of-life concerns for residents living beneath flight paths.