Saint Mary, Jersey

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Saint Mary
Location of Saint Mary in Jersey Coat of arms}}} of Saint Mary
Location of Saint Mary in Jersey Coat of arms of Saint Mary
Island Jersey, Channel Islands
Area 6.5 km²
Population 1591
- density 244.8/km²
The Elms, constructed around 1740, is currently the headquarters of the National Trust for Jersey.
The Elms, constructed around 1740, is currently the headquarters of the National Trust for Jersey.

Saint Mary (Jèrriais: Sainte Mathie) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is situated in the north west and covers an area of 3,604 vergées (6.5 km²).

It borders four other parishes: Saint Ouen, Saint John, Saint Peter and Saint Lawrence. The parish church of Saint Mary, and its parish, derive their name from a mediaeval monastery, probably destroyed during Viking raids some time between the 8th and 10th centuries. In 1042 Duke William gave "Saint Mary of the Burnt Monastery" to the abbey of Cérisy.

Among the natural attractions of the parish is a feature known as the Devil's Hole[1] (Lé Creux du Vis), a blowhole in the cliffs of the coast. The descent into the Devil's Hole used to be accessible to visitors and was a lucrative tourist attraction[citation needed], but it has been closed off for decades. Following a shipwreck in 1851, when the ship's figurehead washed up in the Devil's Hole, a statue of a devil adapted from the figurehead was set up above the Hole[2]. This wooden statue was replaced by a succession of modern versions in the 20th century.

Mourier Valley runs down the boundary between Saint Mary and Saint John. The stream formerly powered a number of mills despite the scant population of the area.

Crabbé is the location for pistol shooting.

La Grève de Lecq lies on the border between Saint Mary and Saint Ouen. On the east side of the bay, in Saint Mary, lies Le Castel de Lecq, a mediaeval earthwork. In the bay Le Moulin de Lecq, an old watermill, was converted into a residence in 1929 and following the Second World War became a pub, while retaining the wheel and remnants of the gears.

The parish stands upon course-grained granite, 'of Saint Mary's type', which formed during the lower Palaeozoic period. This granite was formerly quarried for building.[3]

Saint Mary is twinned with Longues-sur-Mer, a commune of the département of Calvados, in the Basse-Normandie région of France.

Contents

[edit] Vingtaines

The parish is divided into vingtaines for administrative purposes as follows:

The parish forms one electoral district and elects one Deputy, currently Juliette Gallichan.

[edit] Demographics

St. Mary has the smallest population of all the parishes in Jersey, having only 1,591 residents in 2001.

Population
1991 1996 2001
1449 1475 1591
Statistics beginning 1991

[edit] Trivia

Gilbert O'Sullivan resides in Saint Mary with his wife Aase and their two children.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nationaltrustjersey.org.je/coast/ab_points_C.html National Trust - Devil's Hole
  2. ^ "Turnkey" Giffard and the Devil
  3. ^ Institute of Geological Sciences, Jersey. (Channel Islands Sheet 2) 'Solid and Drift', by D.H. Keen and A.C. Bishop. Published 1982, G.M. Brown, Director, Institute of Geological Sciences.
  • Historic Jersey, W.S. Ashworth, Jersey 1993 (no ISBN)

[edit] External links

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Parishes of Jersey
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