Saint Clement
Saint Clement
An aerial view of the parish in 1968
St Clement is the parish in the south east corner of Jersey
Saint Clement is the south-eastern parish of Jersey. It contains some of the suburbs of Saint Helier. It is the smallest parish by surface area, but the second most densely populated. St Clement stretches west to east from Le Dicq to within a quarter mile of La Rocque harbour. Its surface area is around 1,044 acres.
History
Much of the parish lies below equinoctial high-tide level and was frequently flooded before Le Dicq was built to hold back the sea. 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 it being rebuilt further inland.
In pre-Norman times, the area now known as St Clement was known as Petravilla or Pierreville. In 1172 it was recorded that a chapel existed in the parish, and there was a priory 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 and witches would assemble there for their sabbats on Friday nights.
After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 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 St Clement. Today there is relatively little open green space (with the exception of the golf and football fields) west of Samarès Lane into St Helier.
The famous French writer Victor Hugo lived in Marina Terrace, St Clement for some time, and it was here that he wrote his collection of poems entitled Les Châtiments. It was the Constable 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.
Vingtaines
The parish is divided into vingtaines for administrative purposes as follows:
- Grande Vingtaine
- Vingtaine du Rocquier
- Vingtaine de Samarès
The parish forms one electoral district and elects four Deputies.
The seat of the parish administration is the Salle Paroissiale, or Parish Hall, which is at Le Hocq. This is the newest parish hall in the island; the previous parish hall is now Caldwell Hall, on Grande Route de St Clément (St Clement's Inner Road).
Twinning Links
St Clement was the only parish in Jersey not to be twinned with a French town until, in 2010 it established links with Cancale in Brittany. It is the only parish not to have a twin in Normandy.
Churches
The parish church is an ancient place of Anglican worship located on Grande Route de St Clément. St Nicholas is a smaller, sister church, located on 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.
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is on Grande Route de St Clément at Samarès.
Samarès Methodist Church is on Grande Route de la Côte.
Significant Sites
The dolmen 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 BC. Remains of a cemetery on La Motte(Green Island) are believed to be from later settlers. Greve d'Azette menhir is located off the coast and is partly buried by sand.
Le Hocq Tower was built in 1778 as a coastal defence against the French when they sided with the American colonies against the British.
The rocky inter-tidal zone that stretches along St Clement's coast from St Saviour to Grouville is part of a UN Ramsar site of special significance.
Constables
| 16th Century | Richard Costil 1531 | Pierre Le Bourdon 1536-1541 [1] | Jean Le Gardynier 1541-1542 [2] | Bernabey Godfray 1546 | Richard Messervy 1553-1556]] [3] | |
| Richard Mattingley 1556-1585 [4] | Jacques Le Febvre 1585-1586, 1592-1597 [5] | Helier Messervy 1586-1587 [6] | Bernaby Godfray 1587-1592, 1597-1615 [7] | |||
| 17th Century | Jean Mattingley 1615-1629, 1632-1637 [8] | Thomas Godfray 1629 [9] | Helier Dumaresq 1637-1651 [10] | Jean Dumaresq 1651-1660, 1673-1676 [11] | Jean Mattingley 1660-1664]] [12] | |
| Jean Le Jeune 1664-1670 [13] | Helier Jambard 1670-1673 [14] | Henry Dumaresq 1676-1685 [15] | Helier Dumaresq 1685-1694, 1697-1702 [16] | Philippe Journeaux 1694-1697, 1703-1725 [17] | ||
| 18th Century | Clement Dumaresq 1702-1705 [18] | Helier Dumaresq 1725 [19] | Clement Mattingley 1725-1732 [20] | Philippe Filleul 1732-1738 [21] | Thomas Godfray 1738-1751 [22] | |
| Jean Godfray 1751-1759 [23] | Jean Touzel 1759-1763 [24] | Philippe Nicolle 1763-1770 [25] | Philippe Filleul 1770-1773 [26] | Jean Filleul 1773-1779 [27] | ||
| Henry Touzel 1779-1782 [28] | Jacques Hammond 1782-1786 [29] | Aaron de Veulle 1786-1804 [30] | ||||
| 19th Century | Clement Godfray 1804 [31] | Jean Le Neveu 1810-1813, 1820-1823 [32] | Jean Monamy 1813-1819 [33] | Philippe Le Maistre 1823-1826 [34] | Helier Godfray 1826-1832 [35] | [[Descendants_of_Philippe_Touet|Clement Touet 1836-1839 [36] |
| Daniel Gaudin 1839 [37] | Thomas Aubin 1842 [38] | Jean Le Neveu 1854-1860 [39] | Thomas de la Mare 1860 | Edouard Mourant 1872-1874 [40] | ||
| John-Nathaniel Westaway 1874-1879 [41] | John Monamy 1879-1885 [42] | Charles-Jean Benest 1885-1905 [43] | ||||
| 20th Century | Edward Lionel Mourant 1906-1916 | Sydney George Crill 1916-1958 | John Reginald Le Quesne 1958-1967 | Ernest Watson 1967-1983 | Leonard Hamel 1983-1998 | |
| 21st Century |
External links
- St. Clement Official Parish website
- St. Clement's Church
- St. Clement's School
- Samares School
- Le Rocquier School
Gallery
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Three aerial views of the parish in the 21st century ... -
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Another LL postcard view of St Clement's Bay -
Victorian Houses in Rue du Hocq -
Rue du Hocq 1953 -
St Clement -
St Clement coast -
St Clement Horticultural Show in 1939 -
Rue du Pontlietaut -
Le Bourg before seawall was built -
The parish from the air in 1933 - Aerofilms picture -
St Clement's Bay and Greve d'Azette light -
La Mare beach -
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Jambart Lane -
Parish cattle show in 1939, held where the parish hall now stands -
'Miss St Clement' contestants in 1981 -
The coast at Samares in 1908 -
St Clement's Bay -
Pre-war bathing costumes in St Clement's Bay -
Aerial view of the parish in 1968 -
The former parish hall next to the church - now Caldwell Hall -
Samares beach in 1907 -
A parochial election in 1913 -
View over the largely undeveloped parish looking west
Notes and references
- Balleine, G R, 1970. The Bailiwick of Jersey (Revised by Joan Stevens)
- ↑ Sworn 1 April 1536. Died in office
- ↑ Sworn 10 February 1541
- ↑ Elected Jurat 1555, but remained as Constable for another year. Not a native of St Clement but established here with his first wife, Marie, nee Costil, daughter and heir of John
- ↑ Lived close to the parish church on land belonging to J W Aubin, where The Priory was built later, Several later Mattingley constables were descended from him
- ↑ First sworn in 1585 at a States sitting
- ↑ Elder son of former Constable Richard Messervy, see above
- ↑ Grandson of previous Constable, also Bernabey, see above. Died in office in 1615
- ↑ Descendant of earlier Constable, Richard Mattingley, see above. Centenier from 1609. Died in office
- ↑ Son of 1597 Constable Bernabey, see above
- ↑ Son of Clement. Imprisoned at Mont Orgueil in 1639 with Centenier Jean Mattingley for harvesting vraic without permission. Became Jurat in 1657 under Cromwell's regime and died in 1670. Shown in parish registers as a Quaker. Daughter Elizabeth baptised in 1652 as fille du Connetable de la Republique and Rachel, nee Le Febvre
- ↑ Younger son of Daniel, Seigneur of Samares
- ↑ Son of Jean, Constable in 1632, see above. Died in office
- ↑ Died in office
- ↑ Centenier before. Died in office. Buried at parish church entrance
- ↑ Died in office. His brother Philippe was his principal heir
- ↑ Elder son of Helier. Refused to be sworn-in when re-elected in 1694. Stood again after three-year gap. Buried 1716
- ↑ Refused to take office in 1697 after his re-election, but stood again in 1705 and served another 20 years before asking to be released from office because of his age
- ↑ Younger brother of Helier, previous previous Constable. Died 1707
- ↑ Died after three months in office
- ↑ Descendant of earlier Mattingley constables
- ↑ Centenier before. Outspoken. Sentenced to prison in 1734 for calling on the public to assemble to oppose the Court's taxation proposals.
- ↑ Centenier first
- ↑ Jean's daughter with his wife Jeanne Amy, was Jeanne Marguerite, wife of future Constable and Bailiff, Aaron de Veulle
- ↑ Son of Jean and Rachel, nee Godfray. He married Esther Filleul and died in 1785 at the age of 83
- ↑ Not a native of the parish but established here after his marriage to Jeanne Dumaresq, principal heir of Helier, former Constable, see above. Philippe died in January 1709
- ↑ Elder son of Philippe, Constable in 1732
- ↑ Son of Jean, son of Philippe. Died 1794
- ↑ Son of Jean. Married Deborah Godfray, daughter of Josue and Deborah, nee Touzel
- ↑ Seigneur of Samares. Jurat in 1776. Elder son of Jacques-Jean Hammond, British Consul in Faro, Portugal, and Marie, nee Lempriere
- ↑ Elected six times. Younger son of Philippe and Suzanne, nee Godfray
- ↑ Son of Helier and Elizabeth, nee Le Bourdon. Married Jeanne Millais, daughter of Edouard. Died 1833 at the age of 77
- ↑ Son of Jean and Marguerite
- ↑ Centenier before. Stood again for election, successfully in 1816, but in 1819 he lost by 57 votes to 48 to Philippe Le Maistre. Monamy contested the result, alleging 'irregularities'. The argument came before the Royal Court on 15 April 1820. On 15 July both candidates withdrew and the Court ordered a new election, which was won by Jean Le Neveu, who had served a previous term as Constable
- ↑ Younger brother and heir of Charles Le Maistre, Seigneur of St Ouen. Died in 1848 at the age of 75
- ↑ Stood again in 1829 against former Constable Philippe Le Maistre, winning by 68 votes to 67. Le Maistre opposed his swearing-in, but withdrew, allowing Godfray to be sworn. Remained in office for three years after 1832, when the election to replace him resulted in Clement Touet beating Daniel Gaudin by two votes. The resulting dispute over the result continued until Touet was elected in 1836
- ↑ Merchant marine captain, Son of Jean and Esther, nee Nicolle
- ↑ Son of David Gaudin of St Martin and Marie, nee Venement, of St Clement. He died at the age of 49 and was buried in 1854
- ↑ Son of Philippe Aubin, of Grouville, and Rachel, nee Le Clerc, according to J A Messervy, but this relationship not found in records
- ↑ Son of Jean and Marie, nee Hocquard, daughter of David, Rector of St Clement
- ↑ Seigneur of Samares, Later Jurat and Receiver-General
- ↑ Became Solicitor-General in 1879 and died that year
- ↑ Son of Jean and Esther, nee Nicolle
- ↑ Builder. Deputy of St Helier 1884-1885; Jurat 1906
