In 1649, from what was then the marketplace in St. Helier, Laurens Hamptonne proclaimed loyalty to Charles II, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The first such proclomation of allegiance in the British Isles.
In 1663 in recognition of his loyalty to the English Crown George Carteret, Jersey`s Royalist Governor,was granted a large tract of land in North America henceforth known as New Jersey.
On 6th January 1781, 600 French invaders and British troops comprising Scottish Highlanders and Jersey Militia fought here in the Battle of Jersey. It was a short and fierce battle with the British forces under Major Pierson emerging victorious, the last land battle to be fought on British soil. Bullet holes can still be seen on the walls of the Pierson Pub in the square.
At the base of the plinth of the statue of George II is a bronze marker, from which distances in Jersey are measured.
