Everything about Saint Ouen Jersey totally explained
Saint Ouen (
Jèrriais: St Ouën) is one of the twelve
parishes of
Jersey in the
Channel Islands. It is in the north west of the Island. The parish is the largest parish by surface area, covering 8,341
vergées (15 km².)
It is reputed to be the most traditional of the parishes, being the furthest from
Saint Helier and with much of the territory of the parish forming a
peninsula.
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 of Jèrriais as a
literary 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
jerseys of undyed
wool, which distinguished them from men from other parishes who generally wore blue.
A number of prehistoric sites are located in St. Ouen, including: the
dolmen des Monts Grantez; the dolmen des Geonnais; and the prehistoric site at Le Pinacle, which also contains one of the very few identifiable Gallo-Roman sites to be seen in Jersey, the foundations of a
fanum (small temple).
Sark was recolonised by St Ouenais.
Helier de Carteret, the seigneur of the parish, received a charter from
Queen to colonise Sark with 40 families from the parish on condition that he maintain the island free of pirates.
Sercquiais 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. 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).
| Sercquiais |
Jèrriais
(St. Ouennais) |
standard Jèrriais |
English |
| i vuliidr |
i' voulîdrent |
i' voulîtent |
they wanted |
| uu paaliidr |
ou pâlîdres |
ou pâlîtes |
you spoke |
| i füüdr |
i' fûdrent |
i' fûtent |
they were |
| uu prẽẽdr |
ou prîndres |
ou prîntes |
you took |
In the north west, the
ruins 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.
Cueillettes
Unlike the other parishes of Jersey, the subdivisions of this parish are not named
vingtaines, but
cueillettes (Jèrriais:
tchilliettes). Vingteniers are still elected, however, in the cueillettes.
St. Ouen forms one electoral district and elects one Deputy.
Demographics
Gallery
Image:La Nethe Rue road sign Jersey.jpg|Road sign in La Néthe Rue (the black road in Jèrriais)
Image:German World War II tower Jersey.jpg|German Occupation observation tower situated at Les Landes
Image:Field entrance in St Ouen Jersey.jpg|A field entrance in St. Ouen
Image:Plemont north coast cliffs Jersey.jpg|Cliffs at Plémont
Image:Saint Ouen, Jersey, twinned with Coutances.jpg|Saint Ouen bilingual sign
Further Information
Get more info on 'Saint Ouen Jersey'.
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