St Clement, Jersey
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St Clement (
Jèrriais (french: Jersiais, also known as the Jersey Language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an island i ...
: ''Saint Cliément'') is one of the twelve
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 ...
es of
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
in the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
. Its parish hall is around south-east of
St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...
. The parish has a population of 9,221 and is the second most densely populated. Located on the south-east coast of the island, stretching from Le Dicq in the west to near La Rocque in the east, it is the smallest parish, with a surface area of just 2,440
vergée A vergée (, alternative spellings vergie, vrégie) is a unit of land area, a quarter of the old French ''arpent''. The term derives from Latin ''virga'' (rod). Compare French ''verge'' (yard). In the Channel Islands, it is a standard measur ...
s (4 km2). The parish is largely suburbanised, with a large spread of
post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
low-density housing development. There is no easily definable centre to the parish. The parish hall, schools and church are located in different areas. The parish is also home to a number of sports facilities, such as FB Fields and St Clement's Golf Club.


Topynomy

In pre-Norman times, the area now known as St Clement was known as ''Petravilla'' or ''Pierreville''. This is named for Peter, a monk who gave his lands in St Clement to the
Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is ...
abbey. The modern parish derives its name from its parish church, which is dedicated to St Clement, the third Pope in succession to St Peter. The church's full name is . Samarès, its namesake manor, and now the name of a district of and a suburb located in St Clement, is a surname that is a corruption of the phrase "Salt marsh". It appeared in 1186 as Salmaresch.


History

Much of the parish lies below equinoctial high-tide level and was frequently flooded before Le Dicq was built to try to hold back the sea somewhat. There are remains of a submerged forest underneath the sand at Grève d'Azette that show how the parish has reduced in size as the sea has advanced. Large floods in 1688, 1796 and 1812 led to the coast road at Le Hocq being swept away by the sea and necessitated the coast road being rebuilt further inland. In 1172 it was recorded that a chapel existed in the parish, and there was a
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
on the site of the old Priory Inn (now houses). In the 16th and 17th centuries the parish was believed to be the centre of a witch movement. According to beliefs, the rock at Rocque Berg (known as the Witches' Rock) was the focus for
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
in Jersey and witches would assemble there for their sabbats on Friday nights. After the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...
in 1685, many French Protestants settled in the parish – as recorded on the church register. In the mid 19th century, the town began to spread east from St Helier into the west of the parish. Today there is relatively little open green space (with the exception of the golf and football fields) west of Samarès Lane into St Helier.


Governance

The parish is a first-level
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 ...
of the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency. The highest official in the parish is the of St Clement. The incumbent office holder is Len Norman, who has held the office since 2008, previously having been a St Clement Deputy since 1983. At present, the parish forms one electoral district for
States Assembly The States Assembly (french: Assemblée des États; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable of each of the twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of Jersey lie in the system o ...
elections and elects two Deputies, as well as eight Senators in an islandwide constituency. The current Deputies for St Clement are Lindsay Ash and Susie Pinel. Lindsay Ash, who is Assistant Treasury Minister, faced criticism in 2021 over a tweet mocking
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
's appearance following her interview with the
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Duchess of Sussex Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III. Meghan was ...
. He apologised if the comment caused any offence, but claimed the tweet was "observational comedy" and that he "would have mocked a man for his looks as well". Under the proposed electoral reform, St Clement will form a single constituency, electing four representatives alongside its . St Clement also has its own local administration. This, like each of the other eleven parishes, is made up of a ; two , who are also elected and oversee the finances of the parish; a Rector, responsible for the parish church; members of the parish
Honorary Police There is an Honorary Police ( French: Police Honorifique) force in each of the twelve parishes of Jersey. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid. Honorary Police officers have ...
(made up of
Centenier There is an Honorary Police ( French: Police Honorifique) force in each of the twelve parishes of Jersey. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid. Honorary Police officers have ...
s,
Vingtenier There is an Honorary Police ( French: Police Honorifique) force in each of the twelve parishes of Jersey. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid. Honorary Police officers have ...
s and
Constable's Officers There is an Honorary Police ( French: Police Honorifique) force in each of the twelve parishes of Jersey. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid. Honorary Police officers have ...
); and other officers such as churchwardens, roads inspectors, rates assessors and a registrar. The parish is divided into vingtaines for administrative purposes as follows: *La Grande Vingtaine *La
Vingtaine du Rocquier Vingtaine du Rocquier (Jèrriais: ''Vîngtaine du Rotchi'') is one of the three vingtaines of the Parish of Saint Clement in Jersey. ''Rotchi'' means rock or rocky place in Jèrriais, and the vingtaine covers generally low-lying coastal terrain ...
*La
Vingtaine de Samarès Vingtaine de Samarès is one of the three vingtaines of the Parish of St. Clement in Jersey, Channel Islands. It takes its name from the salt marsh that used to occupy much of the area of this low-lying coastal vingtaine. Samarès used to be s ...
The seat of the parish administration is the , or Parish Hall, which is pictured above and located at
Le Hocq Le Hocq is an area in the parish of St. Clement, in the south-east of Jersey, Channel Islands. Le Hocq is a Jèrriais name, and means 'the headland' or 'the cape' in English. The fortified Jersey Round Tower at Le Hocq, was built in the 1780s. ...
. This is the newest parish hall in the island; the previous parish hall in St Clement was located at Caldwell Hall, on La Grande Route de St Clément (St Clement's Inner Road).


Geography

St Clement is located in the south-east of the island of
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
, the largest island of the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
archipelago, part of the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
. Administratively, the parish is a first-level administrative division of the Bailiwick of Jersey. It borders St Saviour to the west and north and
Grouville Grouville is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The parish is around east of St Helier. The parish covers a surface area of 4,354 vergées (7.8 km²). The parish includes the south-east portion of the main island o ...
to the east and north. It is a short distance from the boundary of the island's capital, St Helier, at Le Dicq, where there is only a short stretch of coastline in St Saviour. The parish is mostly low-lying and coastal, however, stretches into the parish. The whole rocky inter-tidal zone that stretches along St Clement's coast is part of a
Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **


Landmarks

The
dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
at Mont Ubé (off La Blinerie) is believed to have been left there by a pre-Celtic race called the Iberians, in around 3,000 B.C. Remains of a cemetery on La Motte (Green Island) are believed to be from later settlers.Balleine, 1970 A Neolithic
cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
and
midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
s on La Motte have also been investigated.
Samarès Manor Samarès Manor ( Jèrriais: ''Mangni d'Sanmathès'') is a manor house with medieval origins in the Vingtaine de Samarès, in the parish of St. Clement in Jersey, and is the traditional home of the Seigneur de Samarès. The name Samarès is an ol ...
(
Jèrriais (french: Jersiais, also known as the Jersey Language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an island i ...
: ''Mangni d'Sanmathès'') is a
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
with medieval origins in the Vingtaine de Samarès, and is the traditional home of the Seigneur de Samarès. The name Samarès is an old French word meaning salt-marsh, and much of the low lying surrounding areas are or were coastal marshes.
Le Hocq Le Hocq is an area in the parish of St. Clement, in the south-east of Jersey, Channel Islands. Le Hocq is a Jèrriais name, and means 'the headland' or 'the cape' in English. The fortified Jersey Round Tower at Le Hocq, was built in the 1780s. ...
Tower was built in 1778 as a coastal defence against the French when they sided with the American colonies against the British.
Seymour Tower Seymour Tower is a coastal defence tower built on a rocky tidal island called L'Avarison, located 2 km (1.25 miles) east of the shoreline of Jersey, an area included in Jersey's South-East coast Ramsar site. Acquired by Jersey Heritage i ...
sits two miles offshore on one of the largest inter-tidal reefs in the world. Built as part of Jersey's coastal defences, this square tower dates from the 18th century.


Twin towns

St Clement is twinned with: *
Cancale Cancale (; ; Gallo: ''Cauncall'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is known as the birthplace of Saint Jeanne Jugan. Population Inhabitants of Cancale are called ''Cancalais'' in French. T ...
,
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 ...
Before 2010, it was the only parish to not be twinned to a French town and it is the only parish to be twinned with a town in Brittany rather than Normandy.


Transport

There are two main roads that run east–west through the parish: the A5 St Clement's Inner Road (known in French as ) and the A6 St Clement's Coast Road (known in French as ). The Eastern Cycle Network is focused within the parish, with plans to construct a cycle route from the boundary with St Saviour to the boundary with Grouville (onto Gorey and St Helier). As part of the scheme, a number of new cycle paths have opened in the parish, such as near Le Rocquier School, and a modal filter was introduced on .


Education

St Clement has two
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
s and one secondary school within its borders. Le Rocquier School is a secondary school, on La Grande Route de St Clement. The original school buildings were replaced with a new building in 2006. The parish school of St Clement is located on Rue de la Chapelle, a short distance from
Le Rocquier School Le Rocquier School is a secondary school, owned and operated by the States of Jersey, and located in the parish of St Clement in Jersey. History The present school building, which replaced an older building, was opened to students on 29 Februa ...
. The original buildings dates back to 1901, and was replaced in 2006 with a brand new building on the opposite side of the road. Samarès School (formerly Le Squez School) is the other primary school, which is located further east in School Road.


Religious sites

The
parish church of St Clement The Parish Church of St Clement is the parish church of the parish of Saint Clement in Jersey. It is one of the twelve "Ancient Parish Churches" of Jersey. In ancient Latin documents the church is referred to as Ecclesia Sancti Clemtentis de Pe ...
is an ancient place of Anglican worship located on La Grande Route de St Clément (St Clement's inner road). St Nicholas is a smaller, sister church, located on La Grande Route de la Côte (the coast road). It was opened in 1927 after being planned, financed and largely built by the Reverend L.B. Lee. The St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is located on La Grande Route de St Clément at Samarès. The Samarès Methodist Church is located on La Grande Route de la Côte, and is the southernmost church in the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
. However, as of February 2012, there are no longer any religious services at the church, but the church remains open for use as a community centre.


Sport

There are a number of sports centres located within the parish.
FB Playing Fields FB Playing Fields or Florence Boot Fields is a multi-purpose stadium in the parish of St. Clement, Jersey. The grounds are named after benefactor Florence Boot (1863 - 1952) who was the Jersey-born wife of Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent. Histo ...
is a large outdoor sports centre located on the St Clement's Inner Road. The site was gifted to the island under a Covenant by
Florence Boot Florence Anne Boot, Lady Trent (1863–1952) was a Jersey businesswoman and philanthropist. She assisted her husband, Jesse Boot, in running Boots chemists after their marriage in 1886. Florence was responsible for diversifying the firm's retail ...
, the wife of the man who transformed the Boots pharmacy chain into a national retailer. Sports played at the fields include athletics, cricket, football and netball. The
Jersey Eastern Railway The Jersey Eastern Railway was a standard gauge railway that began operations on 6 August 1873 in Jersey. The line closed on 21 June 1929. History The ''Loi pour l'établissement d'un Chemin de Fer entre la Ville de St.-Hélier et Gorey'' w ...
formerly ran through the site. The St Clement's Golf Club and Sports Centre is home to a nine-hole
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
measuring as well as a three-hole Academy golf course. The site was opened in 1913 as the Jersey Recreation Grounds. Initially, the centre only had tennis courts and a bowling green. The St Clement's Golf Club, the St Clement's Ladies' Golf Club and the Jersey Squash and Racquetball Club are located on the site. As part of the Government's ''Inspiring Active Places Strategy'', a new facility will be constructed at
Le Rocquier school Le Rocquier School is a secondary school, owned and operated by the States of Jersey, and located in the parish of St Clement in Jersey. History The present school building, which replaced an older building, was opened to students on 29 Februa ...
to replace the existing school facilities. The target date for this is 2024/25. This will also provide a hub for public sports in the east of the island. It includes a large sports hall, a 3G football pitch, a permanent specialist gymnastics facility and a large fitness suite. There is the potential to provide a new swimming pool.


Notable people

* Philip Dumaresq * Louisa Journeaux * Cecil Stanley Harrison The famous French writer
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
lived in Marina Terrace, St Clement for some time, and it was here that he wrote his collection of poems entitled ''
Les Châtiments ''Les Châtiments'' ("The Castigations" or "The Punishments") is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, first published in 1853, that fiercely attack Napoléon III's Second Empire.Kathleen Kuiper, ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' editors (2011)Les Chà ...
''. It was the Connétable of St Clement at the time who escorted Hugo onto a steamer bound for Guernsey when he had insulted the British Royal Family in some of his letters.


References

* Balleine, G.R., 1970. The Bailiwick of Jersey (Revised by Joan Stevens).


External links

*
St Cliément at ''Les Pages Jèrriaises''St Clement's ChurchSt Clement's SchoolSamares SchoolLe Rocquier School
{{coord, 49.17037, N, 2.07230, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Parishes of Jersey Ramsar sites in Jersey