En Voyage - Issue #8
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<strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong><br />
Nine nautical miles separate Guernsey and Sark,<br />
but travelling this short distance transports you into<br />
another world. It’s like going back in time in the best<br />
way: with no cars, you can walk or cycle around<br />
the island with only the odd tractor or horse-drawn<br />
carriage to look out for. And at night, you couldn’t<br />
ask for a better place for a spot of stargazing.<br />
The Isle of Sark Shipping Company operates a<br />
passenger ferry service from the Inter Island Quay<br />
in St Peter Port to Sark, with several sailings a day in<br />
peak season and a reduced winter service with daily<br />
boats from Monday to Saturday. Tickets can be bought<br />
online, by telephone or from the White Rock office in<br />
Guernsey, and the journey takes just 55 minutes.<br />
If you’re staying overnight, make sure your luggage is<br />
labelled, hop on the ‘Toast Rack’ transport up to the<br />
Village – or walk up the hill through the woods – and<br />
your bags will be delivered to your accommodation.<br />
There is so much to discover on this small island and<br />
it helps to know a little about its fascinating history,<br />
which dates back to the Stone Age. It’s thought that<br />
the Romans inhabited Sark, possibly for a few<br />
hundred years, and it’s certain that the missionary<br />
St Magloire landed on the island around 560AD; he<br />
is credited with founding a monastery on the site still<br />
known as La Moinerie. Sark’s long association with<br />
the <strong>En</strong>glish Crown dates back to 1066 when William<br />
the Conqueror defeated <strong>En</strong>gland. The strategic<br />
importance of Sark’s location in the Channel has<br />
meant it has long been the subject of close attention<br />
from the French: following its occupation by a French<br />
naval force in 1549, which was eventually expelled,<br />
the Seigneur of St Ouen from Jersey, Helier de<br />
Carteret, moved to the island to deter further attacks.<br />
In 1565 Elizabeth I granted him the feudal title of<br />
fief; this royal recognition formally established the<br />
constitutional basis which exists in Sark to this day.<br />
THERE IS SO MUCH TO<br />
DISCOVER ON THIS SMALL<br />
ISLAND AND IT HELPS TO<br />
KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT ITS<br />
FASCINATING HISTORY<br />
SARK'S DARK SKIES<br />
SARK VENTURE<br />
SARK PRISON<br />
SEIGNEURIE GARDENS<br />
IMAGES COURTESY OF VISITGUERNSEY<br />
IMAGE COURTESY OF SARK.CO.UK<br />
Sark is alleged to be the smallest independent feudal<br />
state in Europe and to have the last feudal constitution<br />
in the western world, although international Human<br />
Rights legislation has led to major changes to the<br />
island’s inheritance and tax laws. Whilst not strictly<br />
speaking a sovereign state, under a unique status the<br />
Seigneur holds the island for the <strong>En</strong>glish monarch.<br />
The beautifully tended Seigneurie Gardens have been<br />
open to the public since the 1850s and displays in<br />
the newly renovated chapel tell the story of Sark’s<br />
Seigneurs through the ages. The Gardens also have a<br />
maze, old cannons – including a bronze cannon sent<br />
to Helier de Carteret from the Tower of London by<br />
Queen Elizabeth – and the original carp ponds of<br />
St Magloire’s monks. There’s even a dovecote, an apple<br />
crusher and a small pet cemetery, commemorating<br />
Dame Sybil Hathaway’s beloved cats and dogs.<br />
HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE<br />
VENUS POOLS<br />
IMAGE COURTESY OF SARK.CO.UK<br />
24 <strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong> | Aurigny’s Magazine