This parish, which lies at the northern extremity of the Island, was formerly divided
by the sea at what is called the Braye du Valle. That part of it which at high water
was separated from the rest of the Island, and to which there was formerly no communication but by the bridge at St. Sampson’s, was in consequence termed the Close,
and the remainder of the parish, the Vale Vingtaine de l’Epine. The passage of the sea
across this flat is supposed to have taken place about the year 1204, as at the Chief
Plaids of St. Michael, held at St. Anne, in the parish of the Grand Sarazin (now called
the Catel), by Nicholas de Beauvoir, bailiff, Jean le Gros, James le Marchant, Pierre
de la Lande, Robert de la Salle, Colin Heavy, Rauf Emery, Gautier Blondel, and Giullet Lefebvre, jurats of the court of our Sovereign Lord John King of England, on the fourteenth day of October, 1204, a remonstrance was made on the part of John Agenor,
prior of the parish of St. Michael the Archangel in the Vale, and his brethren, Pierre de
Tieauvoir, Pierre Martin, Jean Effart, Jean Jehan, Pierre Nicole, Pierre Dupre, Jean
Agenor, Michael le Pelley, Jean Capelle, and others of the parish of the Vale and St. Sampson’s ;that they were greatly injured by the sea having broken in and destroyed
the passage between them, so that they could not pass in procession,or hold any traffic
one with the other, and particularly with the lands and parish of the Grand Sarazin,
unless they were permitted to erect and support a certain bridge passing from the Vale
to St. Sampson’s, to be by them kept in repair from time to time in future;which was
accordingly granted, and a survey appointed for the purpose, on St. Bartholomew then
next, and public notice was to be given as to such erection. The bridge was erected accordingly, which at all times afforded a ready communication at that part ;but the sea flowing from the other extremity at the Vale Church,and preventing all intercourse to the north-west, a causeway of large stones, called the Devil’s Bridge, or Pont du Val, was raised for the purpose of crossing the Braye at low water, and the sea continued to overflow a large tract of land every tide, till by the unremitting exertions of Sir John Doyle, the present worthy lieutenant-governor, ever watchful for the best interests of the Island, this overflowed land was recovered by shutting out the sea by another bridge near the Vale Church, by which eight hundred and fourteen vergees, or Guernsey acres, have been brought into tillage ;and though to all appearance little better than a bed of sand, yet, by the help of draining and good husbandry, it is nevertheless likely to become as fertile as the generality of low land in this parish. The recovered land, after settling the innumerable small claims of the several landholders bounding it on every side, of course became the property of the crown,and was publicly sold in one lot to some gentlemen for five thousand pounds ; who, parcelling it out amongst them, are now persevering in their efforts to bring it into cultivation, and have already been as successful as the time would allow : some corn has been grown upon it, and two good farm-houses erected. But this, though certainly a grand object obtained, is not the only benefit derived. At the intercession of Sir John Doyle, the crown very liberally gave up the purchase-money towards defraying the expenses of new military roads across the Island; nor has the liberality of the inhabitants in general been proportionably less forward in extending this much-wanted improvement in different directions; a sum of money, not less than five thousand pounds, having been already expended in this desirable undertaking, by which an extent of road, of nearly eighteen miles in length, has been accomplished (as may be seen by the map), of the greatest publicutility ;and will,no doubt, from time to time, as the means afford an opportunity, be continued in various directions throughout the Island, as useful in its defence, as advantageous to the community. In In the Close of the Vale, not far from the spot where the church now stands, the
fugitive priests from the Abbey of Mount St.Michael, in Normandy, about the year 962,
erected a monastery or abbey, which was likewise dedicated to St. Michael; and by the
exertions of these Benedictine monks, who thus formed the first regular settlement in the Island, the whole Close of the Vale was soon brought into cultivation. The abbot, it appears, had no regular grant of the lands from the Duke of Normandy, but assumed a
property in them for the maintenance of the monastery till 1032, when Robert Duke of
Normandy, the father of the Conqueror, granted them to the monks, by the appellation
of the fief St.Michael, which grant the Conqueror confirmed in 1061;and though at
first wholly confined to this parish, it then comprised one-fourth of the cultivated part
of the Island, including the Island of Erm, upon which a priory had been erected, and
also that of Lihou, where a chapel had been built,as well as lands in the several parishes
of the Catel, St. Saviour, St. Peter, and Torteval; in the two former of which, the
Catel and St. Saviour’s, other chapels had also been erected. In the old extent of
Edward III. the Abbey of Mount St. Michael is said to hold sixty bouvees and a half of
land in the Close of the Vale, paying to the King yearly twenty sols,two deniers, in two
payments, viz. at the feasts of Easter and St. Paul;and in the last extent of James I.
the minor fiefs, Nourmont and Au Legat, are mentioned as dependents of the fief
St. Michael, and lying within this parish. These lands were all enjoyed by the monks
of the abbey, till its dissolution in Henry VIII.’s time, when it is probable the edifice was
either pulled down, or suffered to run into such decay that no vestige whatever now
remains of it to trace the exact site, though the spot is pointed out upon which it is said
to have stood: there are some pointed arches on the south wall of the cemetery of the
Vale Church, which might possibly have been part of the chapel.
The fief St. Michael has ever since belonged to the crown ;and the court, which
consists of a seneschal, eleven vavasors, three prevosts, a greffier, and serjeant, is held
three times a year, viz. on the day following each of the Chief Pleas of the Royal Court,
at which the tenants are obliged to attend. Formerly at these courts pleas were held of
such causes as arose within its jurisdiction,from whence appeals lay to the Royal Court ;
but the powers of the feudal courts having for many years past been curtailed, the
ordinary business of the fief, and mere outward formalities, are all that remain of their
judicial authority. Many religious ceremonies once added pomp to this fief court,
when the original owners, the abbots of St. Michael, aspired at all the superstitious
splendour of the Romish church. Amongst other rites to impose on the credulous, and
keep alive the devoted bigotry of the ignorant, the abbot’s procession with the host on
the feast De Dieu was perhaps the most pompous. Before this ceremony took place,it was
customary for the seneschal, vavasors, and all the members of the court, attended by
the King’s officers, to make a survey of the roads throughout the Island,to see they were
in proper repair for the procession, and to impose fines on all persons found negligent in
suffering the highways to get into a bad state, or who,by encroachment,might anywise
obstruct the ceremony.
When poperly declined, and the perambulation with the host was suppressed, these
surveys became less frequent, and for many years were entirely discontinued by the Governor, in whose name and authority they were afterwards made, as savouring too
much of Romish superstition, and more expensive than profitable, the fines being
seldom found of sufficient amount to defray the expenses attending it;an entertainment being provided at the King’s charge for the day of survey, and another afterwards
when the court met to review and levy the fines imposed. This ceremony of surveying the King’s highways, which had not previously taken place for twenty-seven years, was lately renewed. The cavalcade, or chevauchee, consisting of the lieutenant-governor and the officers of his staff, the seneschal* vavasors, and members of the Court St. Michael, together with the King’s officers of the Royal Court, allmounted onhorseback, the horses decorated with ribbons, and led by footmen, termed peons, dressed in white jackets and trowsers, bound and ornamented with rose-coloured ribbons, black velvet caps, and gilt-headed spears ;proceeded from the court-room at the Vale, along the high road through the town, St. Martin’s, the Forest, St.Peter’s inthe Wood, and Torteval, toPlein Mont ;from whence, after partaking of some refreshment in a marquee, provided for the purpose, they pursued their route through St. Saviour’s, by the King’s Mills, and the lower part of the Catel parish, to the place from whence the procession moved ;an officer, termed portelance, carrying a spear erect, measuring eleven feet eight inches, elevated from the
stirrup on which it rested to the height of about fourteen feet from the ground to the
point. If the spear came in contact with the boughs of trees, or other projections
overhanging the road, or such roads were not ingood repair, andof the width of the
spear’s length, theowners of the adjoining land were subject to fines, who are by custom bound to keep the highways in repair ;the lands on one side maintaining a good
foot-path, and the other a horse or carriage road.
The peons, who are men of the very lowest order, hired for the purpose, or volunteering their services upon the occasion, have the privilege of saluting, or rather insulting, every female they meet, with out distinction, which in this instance was but too
rudely exercised indiscriminately upon the most exalted and humblest of the fair sex :
so that a dirty carman may now exultingly boast of having pressed the lips of some
colonel’s lady, or the hallowed check of the most fastidious first-class prude, who happened unthinkingly to stand in the way of his rude embrace.
The Castle of St. Michael, now called Vale Castle, erected upon an eminence on
the eastern side of this parish, was begun towards the close of the tenth century, to shelter the inhabitants from the ravages of the pirates continually infesting the Island,and carrying off the corn and cattle. It was many years completing, and, three centuries after, was then large enough to contain not only the people but their stock, where, in cases of alarm, they shut themselves up for protection, and bid defiance to the
invaders. Before the destructive invention and general use of gunpowder, it might well be considered impregnable; but the battering train of time, having now besieged it more than eight centuries, has reduced the original structure to little more than the bare circumscribing wall, in which are some flanking towers and the old portal. Buildings have been erected within-side for the accommodation of a few soldiers,by way of barracks ; and the Engraving at p. 56. exhibits a correct delineation of its present mouldering ramparts (upon which are some few pieces of ordnance), the most ancient structure now remaining in the Island.
It is impossible to state accurately the precise time when the erection of the Church
was begun, which was also dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel;but a very particular’account is preserved in several old manuscripts of its consecration, which no
doubt took place at its completion, in the year 1117, with great ceremony, the following dignified heads of the church, and others, being present at the solemnity : The
Honourable Caliste de Ganevis, Serjeant Honourable; Alexander Reveugier, Bishop
of Coutance; Brother Messias Romain, Abbot of Mount St. Michael; the Honourable Renault Montsauvage, Captain and Governor of the Castle and Parish of St. Michael du Vale;the Honourable Michael de Beauvoir; Sire Peter Carbaret, Curate of
the Chapel of Monte Tombe ;the Honourable Dame Martin du Valle, Abbess of
Caen; the Honourable Michael le Boutellier, Abbot of Blanche Lande; Brother Penart, the younger, Abbot of Rouen ;Brother Francis Franche Montagne, hermit
of the Isle of Erm; Sir Brandin Harriton, Governor of Jersey ;and John Buget,
gentleman, his lieutenant; together with the principal inhabitants.
The quantity of land in the Close of the Vale, measured and set down in what
are called books of percharge, is two thousand one hundred and ninety-six vergees ;besides which there are from seven to eight hundred vergees of common, or waste land,
not yet measured.
The lands without the Close are about one thousand three hundred vergees, making
together four thousand three hundred vergees.
There are now forty-eight dwelling-houses within the Close, and the population near
eight hundred persons : without the Close, there are only forty-two houses, and about
three hundred persons, making together a total of one hundred and ninety houses, with
a population of about eleven hundred.
The number of quarters in the whole parish, rated to public taxes, amounts to three
thousand seven hundred and fifty ;and the average taxation, one year with another, is
from nine-pence to one shilling per quarter yearly, which includes parochial exigencies,
as well as public necessities of the Island ;one-third of the latter being the quota
furnished by this parish. These quarters may be computed of the average value of
twenty-five pounds each, producing, or worth to the owner, at least five per cent.;
so that the whole taxation upon property may in this parish be averaged at little more than eight-pence in the pound, which is paid by the owner, not the tenant ;for
a person may rent land or houses to any amount, without contributing one penny for
general purposes, except on his own income or private property. The numbers of
quarters are fixed by the douzainiers, who act as assessors ;and if the party feels himself over-rated, he appeals to the Royal Court for relief, which is granted upon oath.
The incumbent of this living holds with it the adjoining parish of St. Sampson.
The great tithes and champart are in the hands of the King, the rector being thereout
entitled only to a small allowance, granted by the Abbot of St. Michael to the officiating
priest He has also some small tithes of fish, apples, &c.;and by contract dated
the ninth day of August, 1555, confirmed before the seneschal and vavasors of the
court of the fief of St. Michael, under seal of the said court, in the presence, and
by the consent of the King’s procureur, comptroller, and receiver, and the landholders and farmers of the tithes in the Close of the Vale, it was agreed between
them and the then curate, Thomas de Beaugy, that the curate of the church and
parish of St. Michael in the Vale should in future receive for the novals or tithe of
the desert hinds in the Close of the Vale, and the champart thereof, the fifth sheaf of
all corn, and one-fifth of the flax,produced on such lands ;upon condition that all the
books, letters, and evidences, relative to the deserts in the Close of the Vale, should
be destroyed : all which, it appears, were then burnt in the presence of the parties.
As this curious agreement may, by its preservation, prevent the possibility of dispute
as to the novals or deserts in this parish, I have subjoined a copy of it.
This parish has sixteen douzainiers, twelve of whom are chosen within, and the
other four without the Close of the Vale, but acting jointly for the whole parish ; the
duties of their office being no way separated, but in the making of the books of percharge for the King’s Receiver, which is done by the twelve alone.
Channel Islands 