St. Mary's parish church - (bus route no.s 7 &
7b).
Old documents name the church as originally St. Mary of the
Burnt Monastery. However, evidence suggests that this was on or
near the site of the present church. How it was burnt down can now
only be a matter of speculation, but it is quite possible that
Viking raiders set fire to the monastery. The oldest part of the
existing church now the north-east chancel, dates from the 12th
century and if it is the site of the burnt monastery, then people
have worshipped there for about a thousand years. A fine chapel was
added to the south side of the original chapel in the 14th century.
Then, during reformation, any relics of its Roman Catholic origins
were destroyed, as happened in all the island churches, and the
building was transformed into an austere, white washed church
frequently described as ‘Le Temple’. So it remained
until the 19th century when the old pews which had been rearranged
to face the central pulpit were replaced by the present pews of
Gothenburg pine and part of the south aisle was built on.
Sometime in the Island’s Christian part, it became a
tradition in the three western parishes to include St. Ouen’s
& St. Peter’s to ring the church bell all through
Christmas Day – without stopping once. The tradition still
goes on today, although the bell-ringers do stop while the
Christmas services are being held.
Reference: ‘Jersey’ by Sonia
Hillsdon.>/p>
The co-ordinates for the cache can be found by answering the
following questions:
1.What year did Amelie Arthur die? (ABCD)
2.What age was Amelie when she died? (EF)
3.When did John E Desreaux die? (GH /JK / LMNP)
4.What age was J E Desreaux when he died in France? (RS)
The final cache can be found at the co-ordinates:
N49° (A) (F-P). (B) (D) (R)
W002° (H) (G). (M-L) (S) (K+N)
It will take around an hour to walk to the cache from the
church, if you decide to drive please take care when parking as
they are narrow lanes. It is not necessary to cross any fields to
get to the final cache, there is a track from the lane you can
follow.