Sark Totally Explained

Sark (French: Sercq; Sercquiais: Sèr) is a small island in the southwestern English Channel. It is one of the Channel Islands, and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It has a population of about 600 (610 as of 2002). The island is a car-free zone where the only vehicles allowed are horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, tractors, and battery-powered buggies or motorised bicycles for elderly or disabled people. Passengers and goods arriving by ferry from Guernsey are transported from the wharf by tractor-pulled vehicles. Sark's main industries are tourism, crafts and finance. Sark has an area of two square miles.

Geography

Sark consists of two main parts, Little Sark and Greater Sark. They are connected by a narrow isthmus called La Coupée which is just nine feet wide with a drop of 300 feet either side. Protective railings were erected in 1900; before then, children would crawl across on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge.
   There is currently a narrow concrete road covering the entirety of the isthmus, built in 1945 by German prisoners of war under the direction of the Royal Engineers.
   The highest point on Sark is 374 feet above sea-level. A windmill, clearly dated 1571, may be found here, the sails of which were removed by the Germans during their occupation in World War Two. This location is also the highest point in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
   The island of Brecqhou is also under the jurisdiction of Sark. It is a private island, currently home to Sirs David and Frederick Barclay who purchased it in 1993, and not open to visitors. They contest Sark's control over the island.

Politics

Sark is often considered to be the last feudal state in Europe, as fiefdom still exists, although it can be argued that Andorra, Liechtenstein and the Vatican City are feudal to some degree.

Seigneur

The Seigneur of Sark is the head of the feudal government of the Isle of Sark (in the case of a woman, the title is Dame). Since 1974 John Michael Beaumont has been the twenty-second Seigneur of Sark. Many of the laws, particularly those related to inheritance and the rule of the Seigneur, are little changed since they were enacted in 1565 under Queen Elizabeth I. The Seigneur retains the sole right on the island to keep pigeons as well as an unspayed female dog. He also owns all debris washed up between the high and low tide lines, although that's a right rarely enforced.
Sark's constitution has been democratised since the death of Sibyl Hathaway, Dame of Sark, in 1974, and more power is now in the hands of the elected members of the legislature, the Chief Pleas.

Tenants

In Sark, the word tenant is used, and often pronounced, as in French in the sense of feudal landholder rather than the common English meaning of lessee. The landholdings of Sark are held by 40 tenants representing the parcels of the 40 families who colonised Sark. As explained on the Sark government website: "There is no true freehold, all land being held on perpetual lease (fief) from the Seigneur, and the 40 properties (Tenements) into which the Island is divided (as well as a few other holdings in perpetual fief) can only pass by strict rules of inheritance or by sale. The Island was originally divided into forty landholdings known as Tenements and the owner or Tenant has, by right, a seat in Chief Pleas. Over the years further Seigneurial land has been leased in small parcels in perpetuity in similar manner to the Tenements but usually without the obligation to hold arms (La Fregondée is one exception) and without a seat in Chief Pleas. These properties are frequently but erroneously referred to as "freeholds" to distinguish them from the Tenements."

Chief Pleas

Chief Pleas (French: Chefs Plaids; Sercquiais: Cheurs Pliaids) is the parliament of Sark. Today Chief Pleas consists of the 40 Tenants plus 12 Deputies of the People (elected by universal adult suffrage for a mandate of three years).
The Seigneur and the Seneschal (who presides) are also members of Chief Pleas. The Prévôt, the Greffier, and the Treasurer also attend but are not members; the Treasurer may address Chief Pleas on matters of taxation and finance.
The executive officers on the island are

The Seneschal (responsible for judge and magistrate)
The Prevôt (Sheriff of the Court and of Chief Pleas)
The Greffier (Clerk)
Treasurer (Finances)
Constable (police and administration)
Vingtenier (subordinated Constable) Seneschal, Prevôt, Greffier and Treasurer are chosen by the Seigneur, Constable and Vingtenier are elected by Chief Pleas.

In 2006 and 2007 Chief Pleas is subject to a process of reform. On 8 March 2006 by a vote of 25–15 Chief Pleas voted for a new legislature of 14 elected landowners and 14 elected residents. Not everyone favoured the changes: some people wanted to keep feudalism completely, while the majority of the inhabitants expressed a preference in two opinion polls for a wholly elected legislature. Taking notice of the result of the second opinion poll, Chief Pleas voted for a legislature consisting of 14 elected deputies.
   Subsequently on 4 October 2006, Chief Pleas reconsidered the options for reform, and decided instead to replace the 14 Deputies and 40 Tenants in Chief Pleas by 28 Conseillers elected by universal adult suffrage. This decision was suspended in January 2007 due to a problem in computing the majority of the opinion poll and was replaced by the idea that Chief Pleas should consist of 16 Tenants and 12 Conseillers both elected by universal adult suffrage from 2008-2012 and that a binding referendum should then decide whether this composition should be kept or replaced by 28 Conseillers.
   Reasons for this change included the limited number of eligible tenants, concern that future office holders could be wealthy non-residents who held fiefs, and coordination with modern European standards of human rights and representation. Those changes are not in force yet; elections to the reformed body are expected to occur in 2007.
   In 2003 Chief Pleas voted to vary the longstanding ban on divorce in the island by extending to the Royal Court of Guernsey power to grant divorces.

History

In the thirteenth century, Sark was used as a base of operations by the French pirate Eustace the Monk after he served King John of England.
   Although populated by monastic communities in the mediaeval period, Sark was uninhabited in the 16th century and used as a refuge and raiding base by Channel pirates. Helier de Carteret, Seigneur of St. Ouen in Jersey, received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I to colonise Sark with 40 families from St. Ouen on condition that he maintain the island free of pirates.
   An attempt by the newly-settled families to endow themselves with a constitution under a bailiff, as in Jersey, was put down by the authorities of Guernsey who resented any attempt to wrest Sark from their bailiwick.
   During WWII, the island was occupied by the Germans from 1940–1945, as with the other Channel Islands and was site of Operation Basalt.
   British author Mervyn Peake, best known for his Gormenghast trilogy, moved to Sark in 1946 with his family. He continued to write and illustrate and his wife Maeve painted. The second novel in the series was published in 1950, and the family moved back to England. Once back in England, he began work on his comic novel set in Sark, Mr Pye, which was published in 1953. A television adaption of Mr Pye was filmed in 1986, mainly on Sark. It starred Derek Jacobi.
   In 1991, an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. He was arrested by the Island's police officer (who at the time was Little Sark farmer Philip Perree Jnr) while sitting on a bench, changing the gun's magazine.
   In the 1990s there was a great controversy when it was found that sewage appeared to be backing up into the town's water supply.
On July 4, 2007, Sark began to dismantle its feudal system under pressure from the European Commission on Human Rights. The island could be fully democratized by 2012. .

Sercquiais

Sercquiais (Sarkese, or sometimes called Sark-French) is a dialect of the Norman language still spoken by older inhabitants of the island. Its use has declined in recent years due to a large influx of people who have moved to Sark (External Link

), and the ongoing anglicisation of the island.

Education

Sark has one school, the Sark School, which takes residents from the ages of 6 to 16 (External Link

).
Pupils wishing to obtain a GCSE and A level qualifications usually finish their education in Guernsey or Jersey. Pupils may also become pupils in United Kingdom boarding schools.

Religion

Sark has an Anglican church (St. Peter's, built 1820) and a Methodist church. John Wesley first proposed a mission to Sark in 1787. Jean de Quetteville of Jersey subsequently began preaching there, intitially in a cottage at Le Clos à Geon and then at various houses around Sark. Preachers from Guernsey visited regularly, and in 1796 land was donated by Jean Vaudin, leader of the Methodist community in Sark, for the construction of a chapel, which Jean de Quetteville dedicated in 1797. In the mid-1800s there was a small Plymouth Brethren assembly. Its most notable member was the classicist William Kelly (1821-1906). Kelly was then the tutor to the Seigneur's children.
Supported by the evidence of the names of the tenements of La Moinerie and La Moinerie de Haut, it's believed that the Seigneurie was constructed on the site of the monastery of Saint Magloire. Magloire had been Samson of Dol's successer as bishop of Dol, but retired and founded a monastery in Sark where he died in the late 6th century. According to the vita of Magloire, the monastery housed 62 monks and a school for the instruction of the sons of noble families from the Cotentin. Magloire's relics were venerated at the monastery until the mid-9th century when Viking raids rendered Sark unsafe and the monks departed for Jersey, taking the relics with them.

Clameur de Haro

Among the old laws of the Channel Islands is the old Norman custom of the Clameur de Haro, a legal device which still exists in the other Channel Islands. A person can obtain immediate cessation of any action he considers to be an infringement of his rights. At the scene he must, in front of witnesses, recite the Lord's Prayer in French and cry out "Haro, Haro, Haro! À mon aide mon Prince, on me fait tort!" ("To my aid, my Prince! Someone does me wrong!") It should then be registered with the Greffe Office within 24 hours. All actions against the person must then cease until the matter is heard by the Court. It isn't frequently used; the last recorded Clameur was raised in June 1970 to prevent the construction of a garden wall. The Clameur has been used on occasions since then in the other islands.

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