St Sampson (

Guernésiais Guernésiais, also known as ''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'oïl, it has it ...

: ) is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, an island in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the t ...

, directly north of

St Peter Port St. Peter Port (french: Saint-Pierre 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. P ...

. 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 municipali ...

. 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 A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...

. 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 a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

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

Historical facts

Guernsey July 2011 276, Saint Sampson harbour

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 Cornish saint, who is also counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin. Born in southern Wale ...

arrived from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

in the sixth century, intending to convert Islanders to Christianity. The church was consecrated on 22 May 1111 by the

Bishop of Coutances The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathe ...

. St Sampson is the

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

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 A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

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 capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

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 to ...

Guernsey loophole towers The British built 15 Guernsey loophole towers at various points along the coast of Guernsey between August 1778 and March 1779 to deter possible French attacks after France had declared itself an ally of the Americans in the American Revolutionary W ...

- 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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' * The island's skate park * The Guernsey studio of

Channel Television ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...

and

BBC Guernsey BBC Radio Guernsey is the BBC's local radio station serving the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Bulwer Avenue in St Sampson. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly ...

* 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 division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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 Follow ...

there was a 3,509 or 78% turnout to elect six Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being '' Lyndon Trott'', ''Paul Le Pelley'', ''Jennifer Merrett'', ''Gavin St Pier'', ''Jane Stephens'' and ''Carl Meerveld''.

References

External links

* {{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed

Sampson Sampson may refer to: Military * , several Royal Navy ships * , several US Navy ships * Sampson-class destroyer, a World War I US Navy class * Sampson Air Force Base, near Seneca Lake, New York, closed in 1956 * SAMPSON, a multi-function radar ...

Ports and harbours of Guernsey