Saint Martin (Guernésiais and French Saint Martin; historically Saint-Martin-de-la-Bellouse) is a parish in Guernsey, The Channel Islands. The islands lie in the English Channel between Great Britain and France.
The postal code for street addresses in this parish begins with GY4.
The old Guernésiais nickname for people from Saint Martin is dravans.
In 1883, Pierre-Auguste Renoir spent the summer in Guernsey, with a varied landscape of beaches, cliffs and bays, where he created fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet, a bay in Saint Martin. These paintings were the subject of a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by the Bailiwick of Guernsey in 1983.
The parish church of Saint Martin was consecrated on 4 February 1199.[1]: 138 At the gate to the churchyard is La Gran'mère du Chimquière, a statue menhir.[2]
St. Martin Parish has entered Britain in Bloom for a number of years, winning the small town category twice, in 2006 and 2011.[3]
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Saint Martin is located in the southeast of Guernsey. The parish borders the Forest on the southwest, Saint Andrew northwest, and Saint Peter Port on the northeast. Saint Martin also has a very small detachment to the west. The detachment is an exclave which is not contiguous with the rest of the parish.
The parish itself is made up of four Cantons, these being; Canton des Hamelins, Canton de Hatenez, Canton de Bon Port and Canton de Fermain. Three Douzeniers are responsible for each Canton.
Saint Martin is one of the most expensive parishes in the island for property, with the average four bedroom house costing £615,000.
Relief: Saint Martin is the second highest parish in Guernsey, its elevation is exceeded only by the Forest. The highest areas in the parish are in the central portion, located around Carmel (approx 110m) but this gently slopes down to the boundaries, where on the coast, the parish is delineated by steep cliffs.
The following roads provide important links between Saint Martin and the other parishes (listed from southwest to northeast):
The following roads are also very important, as they provide access to the village centre and most of the shops (listed from west to east):
St Martin comprises part of the South East administrative division with St Andrew.
In the 2016 Guernsey general election there was a 3,363 or 73% turnout to elect five Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being Heidi Soulsby, Lindsay De Sausmarez, Peter Roffey, Rob Prow and Victoria Oliver.
Parish Administration
The Parish is administered by a Douzaine, made up of twelve parishioners, known as Douzeniers. Douzeniers are elected for a four-year period, three Douzeniers being elected on rotation by parishioners at a parish meeting in November each year. The senior Douzenier is known as the Doyen (Dean). Two elected Constables (Connétables) carry out the decisions of the Douzaine, serving for between one and three years. The longest serving Constable is known as the Senior Constable and his or her colleague as the Junior Constable.
The Parish also has an office situated at the Parish Hall which is open most weekday mornings and manned by the Parish clerk, who is Anita Leale and has been in post for 5 years. Details of the current Douzeniers and Constables can be found on the Parish website. The Douzaine levy an Occupiers Rate on properties to provide funding for running of the administration.