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St Lawrence (;
Jèrriais ( ; also known as the Jersey language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance languages, Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an isla ...
: ) is one of the twelve
parishes of Jersey The parishes of Jersey (Jèrriais, Jerriais: ) are the civil and religious Administrative division, administrative districts of Jersey in the Channel Islands. There are twelve in total; all have access to the sea and share a name with their anc ...
in the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. It is located west of St Helier. The parish covers 5,258 vergées (9.5 km2) and occupies the centre of the Island. St Lawrence Village is also the name of a village in the parish. Much of the parish is inland, though it has a short stretch of coastline in St Aubin's Bay. It borders St Peter and
St Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...
to the west, St John to the north and east, and
St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...
to the east.


History

As with every Jersey parish, its name derives from the name of its parish church. In this case, the church is dedicated to
St Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...
, who was martyred in Rome in 258 AD. The church was possibly situated on the site of a Celtic monastery from the Dark Age. The Jersey parish system has been in place for centuries. By Norman times, the parish boundaries were firmly fixed and remain largely unchanged since.Syvret, Marguerite (2011). ''Balleine's History of Jersey''. The History Press. . In 1180 Jersey was divided by the Normans into three ministeria for administrative purposes. St Lawrence was part of ''de Groceio''. ''De Groceio'' likely refers to the Jersey family name, de Gruchy.


Governance

The parish is a first-level
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 ...
of the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British
Crown dependency The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and toge ...
. The highest official in the parish is the of St Lawrence. The incumbent office holder is Deidre Mezbourian, who has held the office since 2008 (previously a Deputy for St Lawrence since 2005). The parish administration is headquartered at the Parish Hall next to the parish church. At present, the parish forms one electoral district for
States Assembly The States Assembly (; 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 of self-government according ...
elections and elects two Deputies, as well as eight Senators in an islandwide constituency. The current Deputies for St Lawrence are Kristen Morel and Gregory Guida. The
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
, Senator John Le Fondré, was previously a St Lawrence Deputy (2005-2018). Under the proposed electoral reform, it will form part of the Central electoral district consisting of St John, St Lawrence and Trinity, which will collectively elect four representatives alongside the parishes' . The parish is divided into
vingtaine A vingtaine (, literally "group of twenty" in French) is a political subdivision of Jersey. They are subdivisions of the various parishes of Jersey, and one, La Vingtaine de la Ville (The Vingtaine of the town), in Saint Helier is further divid ...
s for administrative purposes: *La Vingtaine Haut de la Vallée *La Vingtaine Bas de la Vallée *La Vingtaine du Coin Hatain *La Vingtaine du Coin Motier *La Vingtaine du Coin Tourgis Nord *La Vingtaine du Coin Tourgis Sud All parishes of Jersey, including St Lawrence, have an Honorary Police force.


Geography

The parish is mainly rural, but has some significant residential development. The village is in the centre of the parish, forming around the A10 main road, however it does not have a lot of residential development. Most of the development in the parish is in the south of the parish around Le Mont Felard and Bel Royal or in the north of the parish at Six Roads. The parish has a section of Victoria Avenue, the island's main dual carriageway.


Demography

The parish has 5,418 residents according to the 2011 census.


Landmarks

Hamptonne, the Country Life Museum, occupies restored farm buildings in the parish. An
apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
orchard preserves native Jersey
cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...
apple varieties and the ''preinseu'' (cider press house) is the focus of the annual ''Faîs'sie d'cidre'' cidermaking festival using traditional equipment and methods. The ITV drama ''
Under the Greenwood Tree ''Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School'' is the second published novel by English author Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, and the first of what was to become his seri ...
'' was mostly filmed here. The Jersey War Tunnels (previously known as the German Underground Hospital) are a major relic of the engineering works undertaken by the occupying German forces 1940–1945. They also serve as a memorial to the many slave-workers pressed into labouring on such projects during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Education

There are two primary schools in the parish. Bel Royal school is in the south and St Lawrence School is in the north.


Twin towns

St Lawrence is twinned with: * Barneville-Carteret,
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...


Notes


References


External links

* * {{coord, 49.21580, N, 2.14336, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Parishes of Jersey