St Sampson (

Guernésiais Guernésiais (), also known as Guerneseyese, ''Dgèrnésiais'', Guernsey French, and Guernsey Norman French, is the variety of the Norman language spoken in Guernsey. It is sometimes known on the island simply as "patois". As one of the langues d ...

: ) is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, an island in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...

, directly north of

St Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...

. It is on the north-west and north-east coasts of the island and is split into two sections, intersected by

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...

. The parish has a population of 8,966. Its residents are known as (the Guernésiais for frogs). What is currently the northern boundary of the parish originally ran along the south coast of Le Braye du Valle, a tidal channel that made the northern extremity of Guernsey, Le Clos du Valle, a tidal island. La Braye du Valle was drained and reclaimed in 1806 by the British Government as a defence measure. The eastern end of the former channel became the town and harbour (from 1820) of St. Sampson's, now the second biggest port in Guernsey. The western end of La Braye is now Le Grand Havre. The roadway called The Bridge across the end of the harbour at St. Sampson's recalls the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

that formerly linked the two parts of Guernsey at high tide.

Historical facts

The parish church of St. Sampson claims to be the oldest of Guernsey's parish churches, standing on the coast where

Samson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Welsh saint, who is also counted among the Brittany#Religion, seven founder saints of Brittany with Paul Aurelian, Pol Aurelian, Saint Tudwal, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Saint Malo (saint ...

arrived from

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in the sixth century, intending to convert Islanders to Christianity. The church was consecrated on 22 May 1111 by Antony Susar the Bishop of Coutances. The ceremony was witnessed by notable figures of the time including Julien De Prade, the governor of the island, Richard D'Anneville, son of Sampson D'Anneville, and other dignitaries. St Sampson is the

Patron Saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Guernsey. In 1814 there were 125 dwellings, housing 788 residents of Saint Sampson. The parish providing 1/13th of all taxes collected in Guernsey. Harbour facilities improved as trade using the harbour increased. In 1822, 7,000 tons of granite cobbles were exported in 90 ships. By 1836 annual exports had increased to 57,584 tons. In 1841 the south quay was completed and by 1851, 542 ships were using the harbour each year. By 1861 granite exports had risen to 142,866 tons on 737 ships. Today the harbour is used for non-containerised freight, including liquid and gas fuel. Shipbuilding took place in Saint Sampson, from local trading craft to a tea clipper called ''Golden Spur'' and a steamship, the ''Commerce'' built in 1874. The ''Lydia'', a local 173 ton brig, sailed in March 1853 from Saint Sampson to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

with 60 emigrants, it took 132 days. Trams used to run from Saint Sampson to Saint Peter Port from 1879, taking over from a horse-drawn bus that had started operation in 1837. Originally the trams were steam powered, changing to electric in 1891 and continuing in service until 1934.

Features

The features of the parish include: * Churches: ** St Sampson's Parish Church ** The Rock Community Church ** Our Lady Star of the Sea ** Delancey Elim Church ** Les Capelles Methodist Church ** Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses * Saint Sampson Harbour (southern half) * Delancey Park * Longue Hougue quarry, in use until 1969 and now a water reservoir * Military: ** Parish war memorial inside the parish church ** Chateau des Marais, a

Motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

** Guernsey loophole towers- Mont Crevelt Tower ** German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940-45 * Archaeology: ** A ruined megalith at Delancey park ** A cist in circles at Sandy Hook, L'Islet * Bays ** Grande Havre ** Port Grat ** Pulias ** Pecqueries * A number of protected buildings The parish of St. Sampson hosts: * The St. Sampson Douzaine * The island prison * '' The Track'' * The island's skate park * Giving Opportunities (GO Charity) * The Guernsey studio of

Channel Television ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV (TV network), ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programmes for i ...

and BBC Radio Guernsey * Numerous industrial premises and a fuel farm * Corbet Field – home of Vale Recreation F.C. * Hautes Capelles Primary School * St Mary & St Michael Catholic Primary School * St. Sampson High School * Le Murier special needs secondary school * Oatlands Craft Centre * White Rock Brewery

Politics

Prior to the States decision to introduce Island Wide Voting St Sampson comprised the whole of the St Sampson

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

In the

2016 Guernsey general election The 2016 Guernsey general election was held on 27 April 2016 to elect 38 members of the States of Guernsey who will serve until 2020. There was a by-election in October 2016 to fill a vacancy in the district of Vale. Electoral system Followin ...

there was a 3,509 or 78% turnout to elect six Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being ''

Lyndon Trott Lyndon Sean Trott (born 17 July 1964, St. Sampson, Guernsey) is an elected Deputy in the States of Guernsey who served as the Chief Minister of Guernsey from 2008 to 2012 and has served as President of the Policy and Resources Committee of Guer ...

'', ''Paul Le Pelley'', ''Jennifer Merrett'', ''Gavin St Pier'', ''Jane Stephens'' and ''Carl Meerveld''.

In literature

Toilers of the Sea (1866) by French author Victor Hugo is set in the Saint Sampson surroundings.

References

External links

* {{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed Sampson Ports and harbours of Guernsey