Parishes of Guernsey

The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the island of Guernsey and other islands such as Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, and Lihou. Each parish was established, probably in the 11th century, as a religious area, each having its parish church. Administratively each parish is now administered by an elected council known as a Douzaine.[1]

"Chambre de la Douzaine" – sign of the Douzaine Room of the parish of Torteval.

Parishes

The island of Guernsey is divided into ten Parish (administrative division) (the Bailiwick of Guernsey also includes the parish of Saint Anne, Alderney and the parish of Saint Peter, Sark are not generally included in the enumeration of parishes as the names are not of administrative significance):[2][3]

The parishes of Guernsey
Parish Population (2019)Area (vergees)Area (km²)Area (sq mi)
Castel 8,7956,22410.2003.938
Forest 1,5462,5084.1101.587
St Andrew 2,2952,7524.5101.741
St Martin 6,5934,4797.3402.834
St Peter Port 18,9584,0746.6772.578
St Pierre du Bois 2,0363,8186.2572.416
St Sampson 8,9663,6876.0422.333
St Saviour 2,7653,8926.3782.463
Torteval 1,0171,9013.1151.203
Vale 9,5145,4628.9513.456
Non Administrative Parish Population (2019)Area (vergees)Area (km²)Area (sq mi)
St Anne, Alderney 1,9607.93.1
St Peter, Sark 4005.452.1

Herm and Jethou form part of the parish of St Peter Port, Lihou falling within the area of St Pierre du Bois.

Administration
Population of Guernsey by parish

Each parish is administered by a Douzaine. Douzeniers are elected for a four-year mandate, for most parishes three Douzeniers being elected by parishioners at a parish meeting in November each year (total 12). The Vale elects four each year (total 16) and St Peter Port five (total 20). The senior Douzenier is known as the Doyen (Dean). To stand for election the candidate must reside in the Parish.[4]

One or more Douzaine representatives represent their parish at the States of Election when a new Jurat is elected.[5]

Two elected Constables (French: Connétables) carry out the decisions of the Douzaine, serving for between one and three years. The longer-serving Constable is known as the Senior Constable and his or her colleague as the Junior Constable. Historically the Constables have been in existence since at least 1481 although their duties have been reduced over the centuries.[4]

Both Douzeniers and Constables can be removed by the Royal Court for failing in their duty.

Parish business

Amongst the many varied duties:

  • Obligation to ensure roadside hedges are trimmed
  • Supervise watercourses (douits)
  • Administer Parish cemeteries
  • Maintain wayside pumps and troughs
  • Collecting Parish rates
  • Issue dog licence and collect dog tax
  • Manage parish boat moorings

Parishes officials also advise the States of Guernsey on matters pertaining to the Parish, such as licensing drinking, entertainment and betting establishments.[4]

Nicknames

Inhabitants of each of the parishes of Guernsey also have traditional nicknames, although these have generally dropped out of use among the English-speaking population. The traditional nicknames are:[6]

ParishGuernésiaisEnglish Translation
St Peter PortCllichards(spitters)
St Sampson'sRôines(frogs)
ValeHann'taons (cockchafers)
CastelÂnes-pur-sàng(pure-blooded-donkeys)
St Saviour'sFouormillaons (ants)
St Pierre du BoisEtcherbaots(beetles)
ForestBourdons(bumblebees)
St Martin'sCravants (ray fish)
St Andrew'sLes croinchaons(the siftings)
TortevalÂnes à pids d'ch'fa(donkeys with horses' hooves)
gollark: Do you think I just have access to a bunch of aluminium cutting machines or whatever it is?
gollark: ... no.
gollark: I'm looking at getting a 4GB RPi4, heatsink case and SSD to replace my ageing tower server.
gollark: The 3 has a quad-core ARMv8 CPU with better clocks than previous generations, the 4 has better clocks again and a better (A72) core design, so about 2x the CPU perf of the 3. Also more RAM options.
gollark: I find that in the UK it's actually significantly more expensive.

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2015-11-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2009-09-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Guernsey Parishes". Statoids.com. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. Ogier, Darryl. The Government and Law of Guernsey. States of Guernsey. ISBN 978-0-9549775-1-1.
  5. "Jurats and the States of Election". Royal Court of Guernsey. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. Dictiounnaire Angllais-Guernésiais
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