 During World War II , the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans from 1940 @-@ 1945 , and Lihou was used for target practice by the German artillery , causing the farmhouse to collapse completely . During the summer of 1952 , the ruins of the priory were studied in some detail by John and Jean le <unk> . In 1961 , Lieutenant @-@ Colonel Patrick Wootton purchased Lihou . Wootton had plans to develop the island , beginning in the following year first by clearing the area of the old farmhouse , in preparation for the building of a new farmhouse , with construction work continuing into 1963 . He organized summer camps for young adults on the island and imported sheep from the Orkneys which could consume seaweed . In 1983 Wootton decided to emigrate to Prince Edward Island , in Canada , and the island was sold to Robin and Patricia Borwick . In 1995 the island was bought by the States of Guernsey . The ruins of the priory are possibly the most extensive religious relic in Guernsey . There have been several studies and excavations of the ruins , including archaeological investigations in 1996 , and in 1998 , when several twelfth @-@ fourteenth century graves were unearthed . 
