Saint Ouen, Jersey

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Saint Ouen

Location of Saint Ouen in Jersey

Island

Jersey, Channel Islands

Area

15 km²

Population

3803

- density

253.5/km²

Ruins of Grosnez Castle

Prehistoric site of Le Pinacle

Parish Hall

Saint Ouen (Jèrriais: St Ouën) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is in the north west of the island. The parish is the largest parish by surface area, covering 8,341 vergées (15 km².)

It is reputed to be the most traditional of the parishes, being the furthest from Saint Helier and with much of the territory of the parish forming a peninsula.

1 Culture
2 Cueillettes
3 Demographics
4 Gallery
5 External links

[edit] Culture

A number of the most influential writers of Jersey have been St. Ouennais. George F. Le Feuvre (1891 - 1984), who wrote under the pseudonym "George d'la Forge", was one of the most prolific authors of Jèrriais literature of the 20th century. Frank Le Maistre (1910-2002), compiler of the Dictionnaire Jersiais-Français (1966), did much to standardise the St. Ouennais dialect of Jèrriais as a literary language. Edward Le Brocq (1877-1964) wrote a weekly newspaper column from 1946 to 1964 recounting the lives and opinions of two St. Ouennais characters, Ph'lip and Merrienne.

The traditional nickname for St. Ouennais is Gris Ventres (grey bellies) - a reference to the custom of men from the parish to wear jerseys of undyed wool, which distinguished them from men from other parishes who wore, generally, blue.

A number of prehistoric sites are located in St. Ouen, including: the dolmen des Monts Grantez; the dolmen des Geonnais; and the prehistoric site at Le Pinacle, which also contains one of the very few identifiable Gallo-Roman sites to be seen in Jersey, the foundations of a fanum (small temple).

In the north west, the ruins of Grosnez Castle are a landmark which also features on the Jersey 50 pence coin (see Jersey coins).

The Island's racecourse is also to be found at Les Landes.

[edit] Cueillettes

Unlike the other parishes of Jersey, the subdivisions of this parish are not named vingtaines, but cueillettes (Jèrriais: tchilliettes). Vingteniers are still elected, however, in the cueillettes.