Saint John, Jersey

The 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 (St John of the Oaks).[2] The church is known to have existed as early as 1150.[2]

The Jersey parish system has been in place for centuries. By Norman times, the parish boundaries were firmly fixed and remain largely unchanged since.[3]

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.[3]

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.

Parish hall of St John

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

• La Vingtaine du Nord
• La Vingtaine de Hérupe
• La Vingtaine du Douet

Boundary between Hérpue and Nord: Along the valley leaving from Handois Reservoir to the east west of La Rue Militaire. Along the south side of La Rue Militaire and La Route des Issues

Boundary between Nord and Douet: Along the east side of La Route du Nord, along the south side of La Route des Issues, along the west side of La Rue de la Mare Ballam.

The parish is one electoral district and elects one Deputy.

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 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 Saint Helier on its south.

Largely a rural community, the namwsake 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.[4]

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. 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 km².).

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.

Mont Mado granite was quarried historically. The largest quarry is now that of Ronez on the north coast.[5]

Coat of arms of Saint John, Jersey.

Saint John is the second least populated parish of Jersey, having only 2,911 residents as of 2011.[6]

Sion village in the south of the parish

The main road for the parish is the A9, which runs from the parish church and connects the main settlements (Hautes Croix and Sion) of the parish before running along a lightly developed road to the town. It connects all the way to the waterfront. Other main link roads include the A8 which runs to Trinity, the B33 which continues on from the A9 and runs eastward to St Mary and the A10 which starts in the south of the village and runs down towards St Lawrence. The parish is served by three bus routes that connect the parish to St Mary, St Lawrence, Trinity and St Helier.

St John is twinned with:

• Le Teilleul in France

• 
  Parish church
• 
  War memorial
• 
  La Route du Nord dedication stone

• Official website
• Parish church page at Jersey Deanery
• St Jean at Les Pages Jèrriaises