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GROUVILLE CHURCH
All the items on this page relate to Grouville Church.
This section last updated 05.10.2001
The Name of the Church
The proper name Grouville Church is St Martin de Grouville,
distinguishing it from St Martin's Church, of whom the proper name is
St Martin le Vieux; this indicated that Grouville is a younger Church
that that of St Martin.
To find out more about St Martin of Tours, after whom the Church
is named:
Click here for a popular Mediaeval
account of the Saint.
Grouville Church by G.R. Bailleine and P.
Harrison
A Brief History of Grouville Church
This is an adaptation of narrative written by myself for a
slide-show shown at the Pageant of Grouville Church produced by
myself and Rosemary Hampton in 1987.
Useful documents
Lists of the Rectors of the Island of Jersey;
Rectors of Grouville (1342-1733)
Answer of the Rev. Abraham Le Sueur to
certain charges brought against him by Peter Briard, esq., (1881)
Article on Daniel Brevint by G.R.
Balleine
This is an adaptation of the script written by myself for
the Pageant of Grouville Church produced by myself and Rosemary
Hampton in 1987. The action pieces are introduced by two narrators,
often in conflict, one concerned with the "worldy" aspects of the
history, and one with the "spiritual".
The pageant was produced at Grouville Church in October,
1987, during the days of the Great Storm! We were fortunate to have a
wonderful cast, including the former Rector
of Grouville, Laurence Hibbs, the Catholic Priest for the district,
the Methodist minister for La Rocque, the Connetable of Grouville,
and both William Bailhache (later Attorney-General) and Philip
Bailhache (now Sir Philip, Bailiff).
All the historical details of various conflicts, while cast
in dramatic form for the pageant, were accurately researched by
myself and Rosemary Hampton; they are not made up! Source documents
included the Balleine's Biographical Dictionary of Jersey, Balleine's
History of Jersey, The Cartulaire of Jersey, copies and
transcriptions of original documents by Thomas de Soulemont, Daniel
Brevint and Abraham Le Sueur, the Bulletin of the Societe Jersaise,
Jersey Churches by Paul Harrison, and McCormack's Channel Island
Churches. Only the miracle play is undocumented, but it is based upon
the English cycles of plays, and whilst in French, such plays would
have been performed in Jersey.
A "congregation" of eight (including the Connetable and most
of his family) was present entering and leaving most Acts, and these
were costumed appropriately for each period. Songs and hymns of each
period came between each Act and allowed for rapid costume changes.
Contents:
Cast List and
Programme Acknowledgements
William the Conqueror and the Church
Tithes
Pierre Falaise against the Bailiff.
1450: A Miracle Play
Thomas de Soulemont: Our Man in Whitehall
Daniel Brevint: A Great Huguenot Preacher
Francois Le Couteur: A Mighty Fighter for
God
Abraham Le Sueur: God's Builder
St Francis of Assisi: A Celebration
This is an adaptation of a script written by myself and produced
by myself and Rosemary Hampton at Grouville Church in 1985. The
success of this led Rosemary to twist my arm into writing the pageant
about the history of Grouville Church. Brother Sean, who played
Francis, was in fact the head of De La Salle School at the time, and
a monk himself.
Cast
Francis - Early Life and Call
Francis and Nature
The Death of Francis