The Vale Church, Guernsey
While the chapel would probably be of a much later date, St Magloire, the British missionary, may well have set up a centre of Christian worship before A.D. 600.
Somewhere around A.D. 968, monks, from the Benedictine monastery of Mont Saint-Michel, came to Guernsey to establish a community in the North of the Island.
It is likely that at one time a land bridge connected the two sections next to the Vale church, before the sea broke through.
[2] In 1204 it is reported that the Royal Court of Guernsey visited the Braye du Valle to replace boundary markers that had been washed away.
According to tradition, Robert II, Duke of Normandy (the father of William the Conqueror) was journeying to England in 1032, to help Edward the Confessor.
[5]: 130–1 The Priory had the largest feudal court of all the Seigneuries, consisting of a Seneschal, eleven Vavasseurs, a Greffier (registrar), six Bordiers, and a Batonnier (wand-bearer).
Although the Priors lived alongside the church there is nothing to show whether they themselves ministered to the spiritual needs of the parishioners, or whether they appointed Vicars.
In 1249, Henry, Canon of Blanchelande, was collated to the Vale Church by special dispensation, as they could not find a secular priests to accept the charge.
After 1312, the then Prior of the Vale, Guillaume Le Fievre, became Abbot of Mont Saint-Michel, in Normandy.
The Priory was still functioning in 1478, though no longer under the Benedictine Order, and a Franciscan friar was appointed by Edward IV.
The site of the church makes it a landmark for seafarers, and from many points in the North of the Island one can glimpse this building.
Prior to 1806 the church was reached by boat at high tide, the Braye du Valle being navigable for small craft.
On the granite arch above the pulpit is the carving of a spaniel's head - probably a mason's mark, and of the same design as one at the Town Church.
The masonry of the windows on the North side, like the doorways at the West, forms curious hood moulds, to be seen from the outside of the buildings.
In 1555, Thomas de Beaugy, previously Priest of Lihou, was in possession of the living of the Vale; he was the last Roman Catholic Curé on the Island and was present at the Court of Chief Pleas in 1572.
The window over the Altar at the Parish Church, dedicated by the Dean to the memory of the late Mr. J. H. Ingrouille (1920–1945), son of Mr. and Mrs. J.
Their inscriptions are given in Latin on the brass plate on the tower pillar and explain, in French, the reason for their gift by the Rector, The Rev'd.
Bell who became Rector of the Vale in 1859, and continued in that post until his death in 1914, by which time he was the oldest active clergyman in the Anglican Church.
His son Arthur was born in 1852 and became a surgeon, but died at Digby's, near Exeter in 1889, and the present bells were given in his memory by his parents.
The inscription reads: Eglise de S. Michel-du-Valle ~ Paques 1891 Cette Eglise possedait autrefois trois cloches d'une date tres ancienne, mais inconnue, elles portaient les inscriptions suivantes: 1.
The clock with four faces was installed in the spire above the bells, in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee the previous year.
The parish is very poor as regards ancient vessels, this is accounted for by the fact that S. Sampson's and the Vale were united for two centuries.
The lectern was presented to the Church by the Dean, The Rev'd Thomas Bell on the occasion of his golden wedding anniversary.
Because of shortages of fuel for light and heat, and owing to the curfew, Evensong was held between the hours of 2.30-4.00 p.m. No Confirmations could take place during 1941-1944.
1156 Robert, pretre et Doyen du Valle 1179 Richard, de Vyville (Huivilla), Prior 1249 Henry, Canon of Blanchelande 1306 Jean de la Port (Duport), afterwards Abbot of Mont Saint-Michel 1323 Jean Le Caretier 1324 Renant Pastey 1325 William Fabri (Guillaume Le Febre) 1327 Jourdain Poingdestre 1335 Andre de la Porte (Duport) 1352 Richard Tyffanye 1364 Geoffrey de Carteret 1368 Jean de Guerin 1372 Brefard (time of descente des Saragousais) 1479 Guillaume Paul 1473 Jean Le Carpentier 1480 Jean Bequerel 1490 Jean Corneille 1497 Pierre Houssaye, died 1503 1503 George Elys, Doyen 1509, Resigned 1513 1513 Jean de Quetteville 1550 Jean Hurt 1555 Thomas de Beaugy 1585 Jean de Cherpont, d. 1587 1587 Noel Perruquet 1590 Jacques Guyneau, d. 1592 1592 Jean Marchand 1598 Jeremy Valpy, d. 1606 1606 Pierre Painsec 1607 Nicholas Efart 1607 Thomas Miletjun 16-Jean Boulon 1652 Thomas Piquot, d. 1604 1655 Thomas Le Marchant, resigned 1662 1662 Philip Brashmart, d. 1663 1663 Elie des Hayes, d.1710 1665 Nicholas Noe 1687 Pierre Bely, d. 1710 1711 Nicholas Le Mesurier, d. 1721 1722 François Duplessis, d. 1729 1730 Thomas Williams 1743 Joseph du Queray, d. 1743 1743 François de Baupin, d. 1751 1752 François Guillaume Durand, d. 1789 1763 Jean Charles Bernel 1767 Daniel François Durand 1774 Rene Martineau 1780 Gabriel François Guyneau 1789 Rene Martineau, d. 1816 1816 William John Chepmell 1859 Thomas Bell, Dean of Guernsey 1892, d.1917 1915 Frederick William Stamp Le Lievre, d.1939 1939 Grotius Alexander James, d.1961 1959 Kenneth Claude Cadman 1965 John Raymond Hancock, d.2000 1979 Peter Simpson 1992 Edward John Widdows 2000 Kevin Northover 2018 On 11 February 2018 it was announced that the Revd Stuart Tanswell, Vicar of St John the Evangelist, North Holmwood, was to be the next Rector of the Vale Church.
