The Island of Sark

After four centuries, Sark gives power to the people
By Simon de Bruxelles
The Times October 05, 2006

THE tiny Channel Island of Sark, which used to boast of being the last feudal state in Europe, voted yesterday to embrace 21st century democracy.

In future, the island will no longer be governed by an hereditary seigneur deriving authority directly from the Queen and a group of unelected landholders, but by an elected council.

Islanders voted by 234 to 184 to abolish Sark’s 450-year-old system of government.

Since the reign of Elizabeth I, Sark, which is six miles from Guernsey but entirely selfgoverning, was run by the descendants of 40 “tenants” given the right to settle there in 1533. In a concession to modernity, the island’s parliament Government, the Chief Pleas, was recently expanded to include 12 “people’s deputies” elected by islanders. They were given the choice of an entirely elected body or one that included eight representatives of the 40 tenants.

The biggest change for Sark’s 610 residents is likely to be the abolition of the feudal position of the Seigneur, who was the Sovereign’s sole representative on the island. The most famous of the seigneurs was Sybil Hathaway, known as the Dame of Sark, who refused to leave when the Nazis occupied the island during the Second World War and prevailed upon the other 471 islanders to stay.

Michael Beaumont took the title in 1974 and will remain the Seigneur until the new Government is elected. His rights include being the only person on the island allowed to keep pigeons and unspayed bitches, and ownership of anything washed up between the high and low tide lines. The Seigneur is also entitled to a cut of the sale price of any property changing hands on the island.

The new system will create 28 elected deputies to sit in the Chief Pleas.

Paul Armogie, a Deputy, said that yesterday’s vote was a monumental change for the island, which is three miles long and one and a half miles wide. “The next time Sark goes to the polls it will be one person, one vote, looking for 28 people to serve on the Chief Pleas and its committees,” he said.

The move towards greater democracy has been a controversial issue, with many islanders quite happy to continue living in by 16th century rules. The campaign gained additional momentum when the billionaire businessmen Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay challenged the Government’s legality under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Barclay brothers, who built a castle on the nearby island of Brecqhou, challenged Sark’s traditional right to allow only males to inherit. An electoral reform group from London visited Sark over the summer to initiate reforms. Forms were then distributed to all islanders eligible to vote.

The draft legislation will now be sent to the Privy Council for approval. Once it is approved, it is likely to take a couple of months until the new democracy comes into force.

FEUDAL BASTION

Sark is 80 miles from the English mainland and 25 miles west of the Cherbourg peninsula

It is one of eight Channel Islands. The others are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou and Lihou

The first Seigneur of Sark was Hellier de Carteret, who ruled from 1563 to 1578

The unemployed and those in seasonal jobs such as fishing and tourism have to find work in winter mending roads, which carry no traffic except tractors



This is rush hour on Sark
The Sunday Times June 25, 2006

Life moves as slowly as the traffic on this idyllic Channel island, but its status as the last bastion of feudalism in Europe is set to disappear, writes Wilma Paterson

Roger, our guide, has a beer can in one hand, a frond of Athyrium filix-femina in the other and is explaining the finer points of fern identification to our group of aspiring botanists.

We are gathered on the tiny island of Sark in the Channel Islands, which has to be one of the most delightful places to see plantlife. The wildflower tour has taken us through dappled bluebell woods, down lanes thick with greenery and along steep cliff paths overlooking inviting beaches and hidden coves. The island, three miles long by one-and-half miles wide, is swathed in colour.

Stepping onto Sark, about 80 miles off the south coast of England and a 45-minute boat journey from Guernsey, is like stepping back in time.

There are no cars on Sark. You get about on foot, on bicycles, which can be hired from Avenue Cycles at the top of Harbour Hill, or by picking up a horse-drawn carriage at designated stops.

Waiting at the picturesque harbour, La Maseline, when you get off the boat is the “toast rack”, a red tractor and trailer to take visitors up the 295ft-high hill. Don’t be tempted to prove your athletic prowess by ignoring the lift — you will need to save your legs for some strenuous walking later.

First impressions of Sark are of a charming, sleepy idyll with golden meadows of buttercups and gleaming Guernsey cows. But swaying wildflowers and miles of spectacular coastline aside, it was blatant curiosity that brought me to Sark. I wanted to see Europe’s last bastion of feudalism before it disappeared.

Since 1565, when Elizabeth I granted Sark as a fiefdom to Helier de Carteret, the smallest independent feudal state in Europe has been ruled by a hereditary lord, the seigneur, and a parliament composed largely of landowners.

The current seigneur is Michael Beaumont, grandson of Sibyl Hathaway, the famous dame of Sark who defied the Nazis when they occupied the island during the second world war. Beaumont lives at La Seigneurie, a pretty 17th-century manor house, with exquisite formal gardens open to the public. He still collects tithes from his tenants, but much of this antiquated system is about to change. Feudalisms will soon be replaced by a one-person one-vote system, which will see the political rights of landowners reduced.

Although their old-fashioned way of life might seem quirky to outsiders, the 600 or so Sarkese seem happy. During the summer the population swells by about 400 as tourists hop off the boat to enjoy a glimpse into a way of life that has died out on the mainland.

They are guaranteed a friendly welcome. The island depends on tourism and the locals appear to relish their informal roles as tour guides, patiently answering questions about feudalism.

Many of the tourists who come here do so only for a day trip, but for those who want to stay, Sark offers a range of accommodation, from plush hotels to campsites. There are several restaurants and a series of popular summer events, including a seafood festival, midsummer show and even sheep racing.

The 16th-century farmhouse La Sablonnerie, which has been converted into a French country inn, was recently named Condé Nast’s “most excellent small hotel in the British isles”. The inn is on Little Sark, an even smaller island linked to its neighbour by a narrow isthmus, known as La Coupée. It’s 9ft wide with 300ft drops and used to be a scary proposition before it was reinforced by German prisoners of war.

It’s true that there isn’t much to do on Sark, but for those in search of peaceful country walks and a complete break from the urban buzz, the island is ideal.

The numerous tea shops are a welcome opportunity to refuel and catch your breath after a particularly steep climb. But if the island’s paths become too onerous, there are horse-drawn carriages at various points around the island to ferry passengers to points of interest, which include the second oldest windmill in the British Isles (built in 1571) and the tiny two-cell prison, which opened in 1856 and is still in use today for those who have overindulged in the pub and been picked up by one of Sark’s two volunteer policemen.

One of the most popular places to overindulge or just sip a lemonade on the island is the Bel Air Inn, which has four self-catering chalets and a cosy restaurant called Pollys.

For those with young children, Stocks Island hotel, a converted 18th-century farmhouse, is a popular choice. It has four family bedrooms, a swimming pool and a garden littered with toys.
It would be a mistake not to experience Sark from the sea. George Guille Boat Trips sets off from Creux harbour and takes visitors around the island, pointing out rare species of birdlife and the dark, brooding caves at the foot of the cliffs. There are also several pretty, sheltered beaches, where you can be dropped off for a picnic before catching the next boat back.

Details: Ramsay Travel (www.ramsayworldtravel.co.uk, 01382 200 394) has return flights from Dundee to Guernsey from £179. Aurigny (0871 871 0717, www.aurigny.com) offers flights from London Gatwick and Manchester from £59 return.

Isle of Sark Shipping Company (01481 724 059, www.sark.info) runs ferries from Guernsey, from £22 return.

Rent a chalet at Bel Air Inn (01481 832 052; www.belairsark.info) from £300 a week. Bed, breakfast and dinner at La Sablonnerie (01481 832 061; www.lasablonnerie.com) costs from £66.50 per person. Stocks Island hotel (01481 832001, www.stockshotel.com) has B&B from £50 per person, or £65 per person including dinner