St Ouen (

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 ...

: ''Saint Ouën'', ) is one of the twelve

parishes 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 ...

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

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 around north-west of

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' ...

. It has a population of 4,097. The

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 ...

is the largest parish by surface area, covering 8,525 vergées (15 km²), and is located in part on a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

. The parish is largely agricultural. There is no single centre, for the church, parish hall and school are separated; St Ouen's Village is the most significant settlement in the parish. The parish hosts the northernmost section of its namesake bay, which sweeps from the north to the south of the island. It is a distinct parish culturally. Being the farthest from St Helier, there are many differences between it and the rest of the island, for example having its own dialect of

. Its manor, St Ouen's Manor — the seat of the

de Carteret family The de Carteret family was perhaps the greatest of the patrician families of the Channel Islands. Their influence on the Island lasted from the 10th century until the present time. Origins The family originated from Normandy where their ancesto ...

for over eight centuries — is the senior fief in the island, and the influence of that family has also been a factor in the parish's independent-minded approach to its affairs.

History

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. . St Ouen is named after St Ouen de Rouen (Audaenus). In 1180 Jersey was divided by the Normans into three ministeria for administrative purposes. St Ouen was part of ''Crapoudoit''. ''Crapoudoit'' likely refers to the stream running through St Peter's Valley. The original parish school was St Ouen's Parochial School, next to the parish hall in the village and was originally opened in 1862 and closed in 1922. It became the St Ouen Youth and Community Centre in 1978. The parish hall was built in 1882 by architects Hayward and Son, of Exeter. The parish memorial is located in front of the hall, which includes the names of those involved in many interesting and tragic stories. For example, Sapper Philip Luce and Edward Luce were killed in action during the First World War. The parish church is located outside of the village in Ville de l'Eglise.

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 Ouen. The incumbent office holder is Richard Buchannan, who has held the office since 2018. The parish administration is headquartered at the Parish Hall in the village centre. 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 one Deputy, as well as eight Senators in an islandwide constituency. The current Deputy for St Ouen is Paul Harrison, who is the Minister for Health. Under the proposed electoral reform, it will form part of the North West electoral district consisting of St Mary, St Ouen and St Peter, which will collectively elect four representatives alongside the parishes' . Unlike the other parishes of Jersey, the subdivisions of this parish are not named ''

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'', but ''cueillettes'' (Jèrriais: ''tchilliettes''). Vingteniers are still elected, however, in the cueillettes. *La Petite Cueillette *La Grande Cueillette *La Cueillette de Grantez *La Cueillette de Millais *La Cueillette de Vinchelez *La Cueillette de Léoville

Geography

St Ouen is in the north-west of the island of Jersey, part of the Channel Islands archipelago. It borders St Mary and St

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and is located 8.5 km (5 miles) from St Helier. Part of the parish forms a peninsula known as Grosnez. The northern and western boundaries of the island are entirely coastal, with notable bays including Grève de Lecq, Plémont and St Ouen's Bay. The Val de la Mare Valley and Reservoir are located in the south of the parish, along its border with St Peter. Grève de Lecq is shared with St Ouen. ''Grève'' is the Jèrriais word for beach. ''Lecq'' originates from the Norse ''La Wik'', which may have meant 'ship-loading creek' or referred to witches, should the bay have been a centre of sorcery. Plémont is a headland on the parish's north coast While ''mont'' undoubtedly refers to the hill, ''plé'' could originate from a number of sources, the most likely being the French ''plié'' (folded). The name has been extended in popular speak to the neighbouring beach Grève au Lançon. ''Lançon'' (or ''Lanchon'') is the French word for a sand-eel, due to the popularity of the bay as a site for sand-eeling at the turn of the 20th century. The parish is mostly rural, with only 14% being built-up. The primary settlement is St Ouen's Village, located in the east of the parish, which has the parish hall, a community centre, a pub, a number of shops and a village green. The rest of the population is dispersed in small developed pockets around the rural areas of the parish. The A12 road links the parish to the airport and St Helier, and part of the Five Mile Road is also located in the parish. The parish is served by three bus routes: the numbers 8, 9 and 22/x22.

Demography

Culture

A number of the most influential writers of Jersey have been St Ouennais. George F. Le Feuvre (1891–1984), who wrote under the pseudonym "George d'la Forge", was one of the most prolific authors of Jèrriais literature of the 20th century. Frank Le Maistre (1910–2002), compiler of the ''Dictionnaire Jersiais-Français'' (1966), did much to standardise the St Ouennais

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

of Jèrriais as a

literary language Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...

. Edward Le Brocq (1877–1964) wrote a weekly newspaper column from 1946 to 1964 recounting the lives and opinions of two St Ouennais characters, Ph'lip and Merrienne. The traditional nickname for St Ouennais is ''Gris Ventres'' (grey bellies) – a reference to the custom of men from the parish to wear

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

s of undyed wool, which distinguished them from men from other parishes who generally wore blue.

Twin towns

St Ouen is twinned with: * Coutances,

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 ...

Language

Ouennais influence can be seen in nearby

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

. Sark was recolonised by St Ouennais. Helier de Carteret, the seigneur of the parish, received a charter from

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

to colonise Sark with 40 families from the parish on condition that he maintain the island free of pirates.

Sercquiais Sercquiais (), also known as , Sarkese or Sark-French, is the Norman dialect of the Channel Island of Sark (Bailiwick of Guernsey). Sercquiais is a descendant of the 16th century Jèrriais used by the original colonists; 40 families mostly fr ...

is therefore a very old offshoot of St Ouennais Jèrriais. The St Ouennais origins of Sercquiais can be seen in the 2nd and 3rd person plural forms of the

preterite The preterite or preterit ( ; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple p ...

. Sercquiais uses an ending ''-dr'' which is typical of the St Ouennais dialect of Jèrriais, but generally not used elsewhere in Jersey (nor nowadays by younger speakers in St Ouen).

Landmarks

A number of prehistoric sites are located in St Ouen, including the

Dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

des Monts Grantez, located at Le Chemin des Monts; the Dolmen des Geonnais; and the prehistoric site at Le Pinacle, which also contains one of the very few identifiable

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

sites to be seen in Jersey, the foundations of a ''

fanum Fanum may refer to: * Fanum (streamer) (Roberto Escanio Pena, born 1997), Dominican-American content creator * Fanum (Roman religion), a sacred space in ancient Roman religion * Fanum House, the former headquarters of the Automobile Association in ...

'' (small temple). Le Cotte à la Chèvre lies to the east of Grosnez and is a palaeolithic site, possibly 120,000 years old. In the north-west, the

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of Grosnez Castle are a landmark which also features on the Jersey 50 pence coin (see '' coins of the Jersey pound''). The Island's racecourse is also to be found at Les Landes. The Val de la Mare reservoir is shared with St Peter and was created by Jersey Water in 1962. There is a walking path around the reservoir. The parish is home to a number of manors, including: St Ouen's Manor, Vinchelez de Bas and Vinchelez de Haut. Vinchelez was originally one fief, but was split in 1606 after years of family wrangling. The Vinchelez de Bas was rebuilt in 1818.

Places of worship

The parish church, dedicated to the Bishop

Audoin Alduin (Langobardic: ''Aldwin'' or ''Hildwin'', ; also called Auduin or Audoin) was List of kings of the Lombards, king of the Lombards from 547 to 560. Life Audoin was of the Gausian dynasty, Gausi, a prominent Lombard ruling clan, and accordin ...

(whose name has over time been corrupted to St Ouen), is located some distance from the parish hall, unlike in most of the parishes, and away from any centre of population. The church's patronage was given to the abbey of Mont St Michel by Philippe de Carteret. The church's oldest parts are the nave, tower and chancel, dating to the 12th or 13th century. The font, lectern and pulpit are of Caen stone and marble and date to the 1865 restoration. The bell dates to 1971. There is a custom of ringing the church bell from noon on Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas Day. The church's origins date back to before 1066. A major restoration was instigated by Canon George Clement in 1865. The coffin of Sir Philippe de Cateret, who died in the English Civil War in 1643, was found in the church in 1869. St George's Church is located at La Ville Vautier in the north-west of the parish. It was originally sited in a chapel at Vinchelez (shared between both manors), but a dedicated church was built in 1880. In Jersey, there is an old custom of the Perquage paths. Although the real usage of these paths is unclear, some locations have been determined. St Ouen's perquage led from the church down the hillside to St Ouen's Bay, along a stream called . St Ouen may have had two perquages, with another possible perquage leading north from the church out to Grève de Lecq via Léoville.

Education

St Ouen is split into two primary school catchments, Les Landes School and St Mary's School, and one secondary school, Les Quennevais. Students can also attend islandwide schools such as Hautlieu and Victoria College. Les Landes is a Government-run

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, located on La Rue des Cosnets.

Sport

St Ouen's local football team is St Ouen F.C.

Gallery

File:La Nethe Rue road sign Jersey.jpg, Road sign in La Néthe Rue (''the black road'' in Jèrriais) File:German World War II tower Jersey.jpg, German Occupation observation tower situated at Les Landes File:Field entrance in St Ouen Jersey.jpg, A field entrance in St. Ouen File:Saint Ouen, Jersey, twinned with Coutances.jpg, Saint Ouen

bilingual sign A bilingual sign (or, by extension, a multilingual sign) is the representation on a panel (Signage, sign, usually a traffic sign, a safety sign, an informational sign) of texts in more than one language. The use of bilingual signs is usually rese ...