St John, Jersey

St John (Jèrriais and ) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey and is around north of St Helier on the north coast of the island. It has a surface area of 8.7 km2. St John's Village is also the name of the main village in the parish.

The parish is largely rural, with two main settlements: its namesake village and the village of Sion on the border with St Helier.

History

The parish sources its name from its parish church, dedicated to John the Baptist.

The Jersey parish system has been in place for centuries. By Norman times, the parish boundaries were firmly fixed and remain largely unchanged since.

In 1180 Jersey was divided by the Normans into three ministeria for administrative purposes. St John was part of de Groceio. De Groceio likely refers to the Jersey family name, de Gruchy.

La Route du Nord was constructed during the German occupation of the Channel Islands as a scheme to provide work. The road is now dedicated to the men and women of Jersey who suffered 1939–1945.

In 2019, the parish's Chris Taylor drove his car at an off-duty police officer on a road in neighbouring Trinity. He was fined £4000 and given a driving suspension for 18 months. He then tried to use parish money to pay the legal fees, claiming it would be paid by the parish insurance. On 18 March 2021, Chris Taylor resigned having been declared 'unfit for office' by the Royal Court. However, he remained as until his successor, Andy Jehan, was elected unopposed on 31 March 2021.

Governance

thumb|Parish hall of St JohnThe parish is a first-level administrative division of the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency. The highest official in the parish is the of St John. The incumbent office holder is Andy Jehan, who has held the office since 2021. Under the proposed electoral reform, it will form part of the Central electoral district consisting of St John, St Lawrence and Trinity, which will collectively elect four representatives alongside the parishes' .

The parish is divided into vingtaines for administrative purposes as follows:

{| class="wikitable"

!Official name

!Jèrriais translation

!English translation

|Vingtaine du Nord

|Vîngtaine du Nord

|North Vingtaine

|Vingtaine de Hérupe

|Vîngtaine dé Hérupe

|Herupe Vingtaine

|Vingtaine du Douet

|Vîngtaine du Dou

|Stream Vingtaine

Geography

thumb|left|The Centre Stone at Sion in St John is traditionally regarded as the centre of the Island although it is far from the geographic centre by modern calculations. The stone is prehistoric, showing evidence of [[Cup and ring mark|cup marks, and may have been brought from a nearby dolmen now vanished]]St John shares borders with St Mary on its west, Trinity to the east, and St Lawrence and St Helier on its south.

Largely a rural community, the namesake has a small shopping precinct, and village pub, around its parish church, with the primary school and parish hall across the main road. There is also a supermarket and recreation centre to the east of the village.

There is also a second village of Sion in the Southwestern panhandle of the parish. This is quite a small village centred around the main road. It has a small shop and a garage.

The cliffs of the north coast afford some of the best views in Jersey. It features a number of key points on the island's coast including Frémont Point, Sorel Point and Ronez Point.

After Trinity, it has the second highest point in Jersey at Mont Mado (473 ft). The parish covers territory of 4,846 vergées (8.7 km<sup>2</sup>.).

There is a single usable beach in the parish at the Bonne Nuit harbour, accessible by a hilly windy road that connects to the village.

The Mont Mado hamlet and wider area is found to the east of St John's village. The name derives from the Fief Madoc and ultimately the Welsh Prince Madoc. Its link to St John however is unknown. Mont Mado granite was quarried historically. The largest quarry is now that of Ronez on the north coast.thumb|100px|right|Coat of arms of St John, Jersey.

Demography

St John is the second least populated parish of Jersey, having only 2,911 residents as of 2011.

Landmarks

Historically, in the Mont Mado area, there was a priory known as the Chapel of St Blaize and St Marguerite. It gives its name to the nearby lane .

Places of worship

The parish church is dedicated to St John the Baptist and the symbol for St John has links to the Crusades - the Maltese cross is used within Jersey to depict the Parish of St John. The full name of the church is Saint-Jean des Chênes (; ). It possibly first stood in an oak-wood.

Twinning

St John is twinned with:

Le Teilleul, Normandy

Gallery

Image:Saint John Parish Church, Jersey.jpg|Parish church

Image:War memorial St John Jersey.jpg|War memorial

Image:Memorial 1939 1945 Route du Nord Jersey.jpg|La Route du Nord dedication stone