St Brelade's Church

St Brelade's Church is one of the twelve ancient parish churches in the Island of Jersey; it is sited on the west of the Island in the parish of St Brelade, in the south-west corner of St Brelade's Bay. It is unique in the Channel Islands in having one of the very few surviving medieval chapels, the Fisherman's Chapel, sited directly next to the main church building.

Name of the Church

The Church is dedicated to Saint Brelade. Early histories of the Church [J.A. Balleine, W. Tabb] made a mistaken identification with Saint Brendan which is undoubtably wrong. St Brelade was also known as St Branwalader, and has no connection with St Brendan.

History

The date of the present church is unknown, but it is mentioned in deeds of patronage. In 1035 A.D., Robert of Normandy confirmed the patronage of the Church to the monastery of Montivilliers, which shows that the church was here before 1035.

The Chancel is the oldest part of the building. The original building extended some six feet into the nave. It was then only a small monastic Chapel.

Early in the 12th century it became a Parish Church, so additions were made, and again in the 14th-15th centuries, the roof was raised some two-and-a-half feet higher to a Gothic pitch. The roof of the Fishermen's Chapel was raised at the same time.

The Church of the 12th century was cruciform in structure, consisting of a Chancel, a Nave (built in two periods) and two Transepts — these latter forming the two arms. At a later date, perhaps a century later, the Chancel Aisle was built ; after that the Nave Aisle.

The date of the Tower is uncertain ; it is however of later date than the Chancel.

Once a Rood screen adorned the Church ; the corbels on which it rested are still in place and a closed-up doorway, through which the Rood was approached, is still in existence.

The font disappeared during the Reformation and was found on the slopes near the Church, hidden in bracken and gorse, in 1840, and restored to the Church. An ornate wooden cover for the font was provided in the memory of H.G. Shepard, long-time Church warden at the church.

Above the font there was presumed to have existed, up to 1843, a smokers' gallery. However, this supposition, first mentioned by Tabb, has no documentary evidence.

A Processional Cross dating from the 13th century is to be seen in the Lady Chapel; this was found buried in the Church.

Nearly all the stone used in the building of this Church came from the beach ; limpet shells can be noted on the stonework.

The stained glass is the work of Henry Thomas Bosdet, and replaced plain glass windows dating from the Reformation iconoclasm.

The carved text on the pulpit is a rendering of Proverbs XXV. 11. " Telles que sont les pommes d'or emaillées d'argent, telle est la parole dit comme il faut". "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in filigree work ".

Before the restoration of Balleine in the 1890s, the whole of the interior stone work was covered in plaster which was whitewashed; the plaster was removed to show the granite and the whole re-pointed with cement. Balleine's restoration also saw Art Nouveau woodwork in the choir stalls, pulpit and modern paving in the Chancel; it is made of five different types of Jersey granite and represents the waves breaking on the sea-shore.

The Altar Slab, weighing about 15 cwt., contains the five crosses cut by the Bishop at the time of its consecration; the five crosses represent the five wounds of Christ.

Legend

The legend has the site of the church being placed in the centre of St Brelade's Bay, and moved by night by fairy folk from their sacred site to where it now stands, until the workmen got the message, and left it where it now stands.

References

External links

* [http://www.stbreladeschurch.com/ Website of the Parish Church]

Bibliography

*The Bailiwick of Jersey, G.R. Balleine
*Jersey Folklore, L'Amy
*Balleine's Biographical Dictionary of Jersey
*Balleine's History of Jersey
*The Cartulaire of Jersey,
*St Brelade's Church: A short guide by the Rev. W. Tabb
*The Story of St Brelade's Church by the Reverend John A. Balleine,
*The Bulletin of the Société Jersiaise
*Jersey Churches by Paul Harrison
*Channel Island Churches, McCormack