Saint Martin, Guernsey

St. Martin
Parish

Location of St. Martin in Guernsey
Coordinates: 49°26′13″N 2°33′25″W / 49.43694°N 2.55694°W / 49.43694; -2.55694Coordinates: 49°26′13″N 2°33′25″W / 49.43694°N 2.55694°W / 49.43694; -2.55694
Crown Dependency Guernsey, Channel Islands
Government
 • Electoral district South East
Area
 • Total 7.3 km2 (2.8 sq mi)
Population
 • Total 6,267
 • Density 860/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone GMT
 • Summer (DST) UTC+01 (UTC)

Saint Martin (Guernésiais and French Saint Martin; historically Saint-Martin-de-la-Bellouse) is a parish in Guernsey, The Channel Islands. The islands lie in the English Channel between Great Britain and France.

The postal code for street addresses in this parish begins with GY4.

The old Guernésiais nickname for people from Saint Martin is dravans.

In 1883, Pierre-Auguste Renoir spent the summer in Guernsey, with a varied landscape of beaches, cliffs and bays, where he created fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet, a bay in Saint Martin. These paintings were the subject of a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by the Bailiwick of Guernsey in 1983.

The parish church of Saint Martin was consecrated on 4 February 1199.[1]:138 At the gate to the churchyard is La Gran'mère du Chimquière, a statue menhir.[2]

St. Martin Parish has entered Britain in Bloom for a number of years, winning the small town category twice, in 2006 and 2011.[3]

Geography

Children on the Beach of Guernsey, 1883, a painting of Petit Port by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Saint Martin is located in the southeast of Guernsey. The parish borders the Forest on the southwest, Saint Andrew northwest, and Saint Peter Port on the northeast. Saint Martin also has a very small detachment to the west. The detachment is an exclave which is not contiguous with the rest of the parish. The parish itself is made up of four Cantons, these being; Canton des Hamelins, Canton de Hatenez, Canton de Bon Port and Canton de Fermain.

Saint Martin is one of the most expensive parishes in the island for property, with the average four bedroom house costing £615,000.

Relief: Saint Martin is the second highest parish in Guernsey, its elevation is exceeded only by the Forest. The highest areas in the parish are in the central portion, located around Carmel but this gently slopes down to the boundaries, where on the coast, the parish is delineated by steep cliffs.

Features

The features of the parish include:

  • St Martin Parish Church [4]
  • La Gran'mère du Chimquière [2]
  • St Martin village
  • Sausmarez Manor [5]
  • Artparks Sculpture Park
  • Military:
  • Doyle Monument
  • Jerbourg castle
  • A number of protected buildings [7]
  • Jerbourg Point, the most southeasterly point in the island [8]:131
  • Moulin Huet Bay, a large area of water that includes Saint's Bay, Moulin Huet, and Petit Port.
  • Icart Point
  • Beaches
    • part of Petit Bot Bay /ˈpɛti ˈboʊ/
    • Saint's Bay [9]
    • Moulin Huet /ˈmʊlᵻn ˈwɛt/
    • Petit Port
    • Divette
    • Marble Bay - also known as Le Pied du Mur
    • Part of Fermain Bay

The parish of the St Martin's hosts:

  • St Martin's Douzaine Room
  • St Martin's Parish Hall
  • St Martin's Community Centre
  • Saint Martins AC.[10]
  • a number of hotels, pubs and restaurants
  • St Martin's primary school
  • Countryside walks [8]:127
La Gran'mère du Chimquière, the Grandmother of the Cemetery, the statue menhir at the gate of the Saint Martin parish church is an important prehistoric site

Main roads

The following roads provide important links between Saint Martin and the other parishes (listed from southwest to northeast):

The following roads are also very important, as they provide access to the village centre and most of the shops (listed from west to east):

Politics

St Martin comprises part of the South East administrative division with St Andrew.

In the Guernsey general election, 2012 there was a 2,999 or 69% turnout to elect six Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being Heidi Soulsby, Robert Sillars, Paul Luxon, Michael O'Hara, Francis Quin and Michael Hadley

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Berry, William. The history of Guernsey from the remotest period of antiquity to the year 1814.
  2. 1 2 "La Gran’mère du Chimquière". Megalithic Guernsey.
  3. ↑ "St Martin wins RHS Britain in Bloom gold". BBC. 26 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "St. Martin’s Parish Church".
  5. ↑ "Sausmarez Manor".
  6. ↑ "St Martin Parish Memorial, Guernsey". Great War CI.
  7. ↑ "PROTECTED BUILDINGS". Environment - Guernsey government.
  8. 1 2 Dillon, Paddy. Channel Island Walks. Cicerone Press Limited, 1999. ISBN 9781852842888.
  9. ↑ "Saints Bay". Visit Guernsey.
  10. ↑ "Home". St Martins AC. Retrieved 18 April 2011.

External links

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