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Born at Llaniltyd in South Wales — now Llantwit Major — about 480 A.D. he was educated with St. David of Wales and St. Gildas at the Monastic School founded there by St. Illtyd. Later he moved to the daughter foundation in Caldey Island and was elected Abbot. A period was spent in Irish Monasteries and he came back to be a hermit in the Severn area. In 521 he reluctantly consented to be consecrated a Bishop. About 550 A.D. he crossed over to Brittany, founding the 'abbey' of Dol later to be the leading Church of Brittany and becoming the first Bishop of the See. He was given oversight of the 'Channel Islands' and came to Guernsey during this period, landing on the shore of the natural harbour which still bears his name.
We rejoice to think that we worship today on or about the spot where St. Sampson started Christian worship in this Island and where a Christian Church has stood for over 1,200 years as a witness to our Faith.
Please use God's House as "a house of prayer" and not a museum.
(His 'Life' was written C. 610. He was succeeded, by his kinsman St Magloire)
The history of the Church dates back to about the middle of the sixth century. It was founded by St. Sampson, Bishop of Dol, in Brittany, who is generally held to have been the first to preach Christianity in Guernsey.
St. Sampson is said to have landed near where the Church now stands, and to have built a little chapel or oratory on the spot where the Church now stands. Out of the little oratory built or founded by St. Sampson himself the present Parish Church has grown; but there seems to be no reliable record of its erection, or of later extensions, though mentioned in a document of 1054.
Little concerning St. Sampson's Church before the reign of Queen Elizabeth seems to be known. The first Rector of which anything is known is Leonard Le Conte and the first institution to the Rectory of which there is any record is that of Peter Payne, 23rd March, 1510. These records come from the registers of the Bishopric of Coutances in Normandy to which the Islands belonged until 1568.
From this date until 1662 the livings in Guernsey were held by various Presbyterian and Calvinistic Ministers who came chiefly from the continent. The first Priest after the Restoration was the Rev. Philip Bresmal.
In 1859 during the Rectorate of the Rev. W.J. Chepmell the livings of St. Sampson and the Vale were separated, Mr. Chepmell retaining that of St. Sampson, and Mr. Bell, who afterwards became Dean of the Island, being appointed Rector of the Vale. Mr. Chepmell died in 1859. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Doyle Kennedy, M.A., who held the living until 1880. His successor was the Rev. F.H.S. Pendleton, LL.B., who died in 1888. The Rev. Arthur Evelyn Carey, L.Th., was Rector from 1888 to 1892: the Rev. R. Jones from 1892 to 1909. The Rev. W. Taylor B.A. from 1909 to 1916, and the Rev. L.M. Quehen, B.A., from 1916 to 1918. The Very Rev. E.L. Frossard, M.A., who was instituted to the living in December, 1918, retired Easter 1965, and remained in office as Dean of Guernsey until shortly before his death in 1968. He was succeeded by the Rev. L.S. Streeting in August 1965, who had previously been an Assistant Chaplain at Elizabeth College. Then there came the Rev. M.C. Millard who was instituted on November 26th, 1971. A Guernseyman, he has spent most of his ministry in the Channel Islands, and was in fact brought up in this Parish. He was followed in July 1982 by the Rev. John Ironside, who had been Curate of St. Sampson's from 1960-3.
In recent years, the following gentlemen have been full-time Curates of the Parish: Revs. Clarke, C. Picot, P.T. Mignot, W.J. Ozanne, W. Taylor, B.A., Alex. Giffard, M.A., C.C. Hoyle, M.A., G.C. Whalley, M.A., J. Allon Pitt, A. Hawkes, S.C. Flitch, T.C. Laxton, A.R. Earnes, J.H. Finey, S.A.C. Dickins, M.A., F.R. Jeremiah, B.A., G.E. Hodgins.C. Penn, R. Sabourin, D.A. Martin and J. Ironside, M.A.
The services were conducted in French until the latter end of Mr. Chepmell's incumbency, when an English service was introduced. The services are now all in English.
The Church stands at the foot of a small hill at the south- eastern side of the harbour. Previous to the building of the quays it stood practically on the sea shore, similarly to St. Brelade's, in Jersey, or St. Ives, Cornwall. There are those still living who remember the time when the sea came up to the churchyard wall, and at high tides also went up the road at the side of the Church. Old prints, Dicey's for example, dated 1774, will show the Church and churchyard as described, with vessels lying quite close to the churchyard wall. The Church as it now is, consists of a Nave and Chancel, with Chapels on the north and south sides of the Chancel. A quaint pyramidal saddle-back tower stands at the northern side of the Nave, about midway of the length of the Church, and a vestry extends from the south-eastern Chapel.
There seems to be no records of the construction of the Church, and consequently no dates can accurately be given to the various portions of it. The popular tradition which ascribes the year 1111 as the date of the building may possibly contain the date of the building of some portion of it, but it is evident that the Church, as it now stands, was built at four different periods.
The eastern end of the Church appears to be the oldest part. Some have considered the northern Chapel to be the most ancient portion, but the writer is inclined to agree with those who consider the eastern wall of the Chancel to be so. The foundations of the Church appear above ground, the upper walls standing upon thicker lower ones, which rise about a foot above the ground.
The North Chapel is considerably earlier in date than that on the south. The old north door entering into it has a niche surmounted by a canopy, similar to those over the windows on the north side of the Vale Church. This niche no doubt contained a statue, and the canopy would appear to have been surmounted by a Cross; these perished at the period of the Presbyterian occupation, when all the Crosses on the gables were destroyed; the shafts on the eastern gables still remain, and it is to be hoped that the Crosses will some day be restored, as they have been at St. Peter Port and the Forest Churches.
A corbel projects from the east wall of the North Chapel, some distance below the shaft of the Cross, which might have formed a rest for the base of a Crucifix, which might have stood over the port, but this is merely conjecture.
The corbie steps of the west front, with those of the small western front of the North Chapel, which projects beyond the tower, are the only examples in the island.
The bottom stone of the gable on the southern corner of the Nave was the old sundial, and the scoring may still be seen upon it. Old people remember when it was the custom (before the public clock was erected), to come to learn the time from it. It is easily found, being of greyish stone, and is the top stone at the west, when viewed from the southern side.
The west front and the south side of the Church contrast with the northern side; the north is sombre, being built mainly of local granite; the south is of warm looking red stone, possibly from the western district of the Island.
At one time, not many years ago, the Church was covered with ivy, and presented a very charming appearance, but this was endangering the walls of the building and was taken away.
The South Chapel is of considerably later date than the other portions of the Church and would seem to be of early fourteenth century work, judging from the tracery of the east window which contains the original tracery of granite. The tower resembles somewhat that of the little parish church of Mont Saint Michel which is also saddle backed.
On entering the west door of the Nave, a descent of six steps is made into the Church, the floor of which is three feet five inches below the level of the doorway. This descent is a feature of the Guernsey churches. The Nave proper is forty-five feet six inches long, the western portion being without aisles or chapels, and measuring thirty-three feet eight inches in length, by about seventeen feet nine inches in width. At the eastern end there is an arch on each side, that on the north opening into the tower, and that on the south into the South Chapel. These arches are of different proportions; in fact, the distance between the pillars, or masses of masonry which support the arches, differs in each, and the pillars are quite out of square.
The roofs of both Nave and Chancel are of masonry - ordinary rubble stone, and pebbles washed smooth by the sea, such as may be found on the beach near, at any time.
The dressed stone of the pillars and arches is French. The late Mr. Lee considered that the brown stone probably came from Chausey. The Caen stone will be easily recognisable. The Nave or westernmost arch on the south side, is faced on the northern face, with Caen stone, but on the side in the south Chapel, with stones of different colours, purplish green and other tinted coigns, which have a somewhat rainbow effect in the sunshine. The arch leading to the Tower is very rude in design, and faced with brown granite. The walls of the Nave are about three feet thick. The tower wall on the south-east side measures three feet five inches in thickness. The Chancel proper consists of two bays. The length of the Chancel is about thirty-two feet ten inches, and the width about fifteen feet six inches, but this varies, the western portion being somewhat narrower. The total length of the Nave and Chancel is seventy-nine feet.
As the Church is at present arranged, with one bay of the Chancel converted into part of the Nave, the Chancel is sixteen feet nine-and-a-half inches in length, and the Nave sixty-two feet two-and-a-half inches, rough measurement. The height of the Chancel is about twenty-five feet; the Nave being a foot or so loftier. The south-eastern arch of the Chancel is faced with Caen stone; the other facings and the corbels supporting the easternmost rib of the vaulting are of the brown French granite.
The woodwork of the Chancel will repay inspection, being exceedingly good work for the period at which it was placed in the Church, viz., about sixty years ago. The return stall which forms a Priest's Stall and Lectern is of good design. The Altar is of oak, and the panelled Reredos is of the same material. The ornaments were gifts. The Piscina is of Caen stone, and in a very fair state of preservation; it has the usual ledge at the back and the drain is in good order.
The glass in the three-light window over the Altar is by Hardman, the subject being the Resurrection. It was placed in memory of Martha Amelia Chepmell, wife of John Ozanne, Esq. The old regimental colours at each side of the altar are those of the old North Regiment of Militia, and were placed there on the presentation of new colours, at the Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 1887.
The Sanctuary chairs of the Glastonbury design, and parclose screens, with the Altar rails, are all well designed and carved. Over the Priest's Stall is a marble tablet with an inscription which has appeared in the Strand Magazine. The interesting part refers to the second of the persons commemorated by it, and is as follows:
"Et a celle de leur fils cadet, Thomas Falla, Lieutenant au 12me Regiment d’Infanterie. Mort au Siege de Seringapatam, ie 6 Avril, 1799. Age de 18 ans, 6 mois, 25 jours, des suites d'une blessure d'un boulet de canon solide pesant 26 livres, qui s'etait loge entre les deux os d'une de ses cuisses, la dite blessure s'etant enflamme considerablement, ie chirurgien du Regiment, quoiqu'ayant examine la plaie, ignorait qu'un boulet y fut renferme, et ce ne fut qu'apres sa mort, qui eut lieu six heures apres I'dvenement, qu'il fut extrait, a la surprise de toute l’armee."This may be translated as follows:
"And to that of their younger son, Thomas Falla, lieutenant in the 12th Regiment of Infantry, who died at the Siege of Seringapatam, the 6th April, 1799, aged 18 years, 6 months and 25 days, from the effects of a wound from a solid cannon ball weighing 26 pounds, which had located itself between the two bones of one of his thighs. The said wound becoming considerably inflamed the regimental surgeon, although having examined it, was unaware that a bullet was enclosed, and it was only after his death, which occurred six hours after the event, that it was extracted, to the surprise of the whole army".A most extraordinary story which has usually been received with incredulity, but strangely enough there is contemporary corroboration of much of it, in the existing diary of an officer of the regiment, who records that the inflammation and swelling were so great that the hole where the ball had entered was closed. The soldiers noticed that the man was heavier one side than the other when carrying him off the field, but had no idea of the presence of the shot. It is said that he asked for a drink of water, and being unable to speak English fluently, said he wished to die like "one" soldier. Nevertheless, the peculiarities still remain. The two bones of one of his thighs requires explanation, and surely some mistake in the weight of the ball must have been made, as a twenty-six pound shot would be a very considerable size.
CHAPTER IV
The North Chapel, which is entered from the Tower, contains many features of interest. There are three arcades in the north wall which contain tombs. One of them has a long cross deeply cut into the stone.
The two-light east window is filled with coloured glass by Clayton and Bell, representing Dorcas distributing to the poor, and is to the memory of Lady Giffard.
The space under the Tower is used as a Baptistery. The floor is paved with plain tiles alternately black and red. In the middle stands the Font, a massive structure of sandstone. The base is square; a large circular central column, with four smaller columns of polished granite, forms a support for the large square bowl, which has at each corner a figure symbolical of each of the four Evangelists. On the four sides are sacred emblems and monograms; the cover is of oak with worked iron ornamentation. Around the base is the following inscription:
"Alfred Thomas Kennedy, baptized July 27th, A.D.MDCCCLI. Buried July 27th, A.D.MDCCCLV. Once more to rise again in Christ."There is a roundheaded window in the north wall of the Tower; this is filled with stained glass representing Christ blessing little children. Beneath is a brass plate recording that the window was a public memorial to Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. W. Chepmell, forty-two years Rector of the Parish.
It was decided in 1973 that this North Chapel should be furnished for worship and dedicated to the memory of St. Magloire, the cousin of St. Sampson, who succeeded him in the Diocese of Dol and was also a visitor to Guernsey. It was also decided that certain of the ornaments mentioned on page 17 should be incorporated in the new Chapel and the improved Baptistery.
The South Chapel is the latest part of the building. It is forty- five feet nine inches in length and twelve feet ten inches wide at the east end, and eleven feet ten inches at the west end. The low-light east window, which retains its original tracery, is filled with stained glass by Clayton and Bell, representing St. Peter's attempt to walk upon the water. This is in memory of Messrs. Agnew and Walter John Gifford, who were unfortunately drowned on the 19th October, 1868. A beautiful mural tablet to the memory of another member of the family is placed on the south wall, near the Vestry door. This consists of a metal plate with brass letters, the whole framed with a moulding of green marble. It commemorates Cecil Lerriard Giffard, an officer of the 11th North Regiment killed at Maidan, Northern India, during the Tirah campaign. Beneath the tablet hangs the lamented officer's sword, a somewhat unusual feature, which is of considerable interest.
The two-light window in the south wall contains figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John, and is to the memory of Mr. J.A. Laine and his wife. A picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary was used in the Guernsey postage stamp issued in 1972 to commemorate the Silver Wedding of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The small west window contains a figure of St. Sampson, vested in full robes, and holding his pastoral staff. This is by the same firm as the west window of the Nave, viz., Shrigley and Hunt, and was a present to the Church by Mr. Hunt. It is a very fine specimen of the art.
The remaining small window in the south wall contains stained glass representing St. Peter, also by Shrigley and Hunt, and is to the memory of the Rev. G.C. Whalley, M.A., formerly Curate of the parish.
The Church is rich in plate and valuable ornaments. It was celebrated in Warburton's time, as possessing a valuable ancient chalice, the only one remaining in the local churches. This still exists, and is well known to antiquaries and authorities on church plate. It is of silver gilt, most probably of French make, and has been considered to be of fourteenth century date. It has a hexagonal base, and a knob of elaborate and beautiful design. A crucifix, with a flower (probably a "fleur de lys") on either side, is engraved on the base. The gilt has partly worn off the chalice, and it has been repaired at the junction of the cup and the stem. Underneath is the following inscription in Latin:
"Sum ecclae Divi Sampsonis 1614".In the North Chapel will be seen very interesting Pre-Reformation ornaments of the Church which were discovered in the tower in 1913 where they must have been hidden since the times of the Reformation. These are
(1) A Crucifix of copper gilt and base, twenty- eight inches in height. The Cross is floriated, and has the sacred monogram at the extremity of each arm and also at the top. The gilding was quite bright when it was found, but was worn off in some parts. The figure appears very old; one of the nails is missing, and another loose. The back of the Cross is chased; the knob and the base bear a considerable resemblance to those of the ancient chalice which would in ancient days have stood on the altar in front of the Crucifix at Celebrations. The Cross has been roughly mended in several places.
(2) Altar Candlestick; most probably this belonged to the High Altar; it is plain in design, with bowl and pricket, and stand twelve-and-one-eighth inches high.
(3) Altar Candlestick of more elaborate design, resembling, in some details, fourteenth-century work still existing in England. It is nine-and-three-eighths inches high.
(4) The bowl of pan of a Censer or Thurrible. This is cup- shaped with a hexagonal base. It is quite plain and has the holes for the chains When this was found it contained remains of charcoal and incense. The whole is four-and-one-eighth inches in height.
(5) A branch candlestick of three lights. The centre piece has no pedestal, but simply a short piece to fit into some support: the height to the top of the pricket is sixteen-and-three-quarter inches; the two branches fit into sockets in the centre piece; the entire width when outstretched is sixteen-and-three-quarter inches. The three bowls are not quite of the same size.
(6) There are also two arms with bowls and prickets, one in the form of a serpent - the other a dragon and a bowl and pricket which seem to have formed part of another and larger branch candlestick.
In this century several notable improvements have taken place in the Church, the most important being the removal of the organ from the North Chapel to a specially constructed loft over the vestry. The expense of this was borne partly by the members of the congregation and partly by the late Sir Henry Giffard, K.C., of Braye de Valle in the parish, who was the donor of the organ to the Church in the first instance. The removal of the organ has opened up the North Chapel, and enables the true proportions of the architecture of the Church to be seen inside.
The gallery has also been restored and oak pews similar to those in the rest of the Church have been placed there.
A handsome War Memorial has also been erected in the south wall of the Nave in the form of an alabaster monument on which are inscribed the names of the parishioners who fell in the Great War. The monument is flanked by the Union Jack and the Guernsey flag.
In a pillar in the North Chapel, at the place where the organ formerly stood, a memorial brass tablet has been erected to the memory of the late W. Auger, for many years organist of the Church.
A coloured window representing Charity has been erected in the Nave to the memory of the late Mrs. G.F. Peek, of Delancey, in the parish.
The brass lectern is in memory of Frederick Reginald Leale, who was killed in 1916.
The two memorial tablets near the font are in memory of Reginald Frederick Leale and of his brother, George Dobree Bell Leale.
The coloured window over the gallery in the west of the Church is in memory of the Rev. Robert Jones, formerly Rector of the parish. In 1933 two new windows of very beautiful design and workmanship have been placed in the north side of the Chancel, representing the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan, the latter to the memory of the late John Blight. In the north side of the Nave two other handsome windows have recently been erected, one to the memory of the late Sir Gerald Giffard, K.C.I.E., representing the Madonna and Child, and the other to the memory of the late Sir Henry Giffard, K.C., and his son, Walter Giffard, representing Christ teaching a child.
A war memorial to the men of the parish who fell in the 1939-1945 war has been erected on the north wall of the Nave. It is flanked by the Union Jack and the flag of Guernsey.
The most recent window is the memorial to the late Canon E.L. Frossard who served in this place as Rector and as Dean for fifty years from 1918 to 1958. This, and the Narthex screen are both in his memory. The window which depicts St. Sampson of Dol is the window on the South side of the porch. 'May the Lord bless your going out and your coming in.'
In August 1969 a large proportion of St. Sampson's Churchyard collapsed into the neighbouring quarry It took until 1982 for the work of restoration to be completed.
Fortunately one grave which has become an object of pilgrimage remains undisturbed. It is that of Linda Martel, a little St. Sampson's girl, handicapped from birth, who had a brief but profound ministry of spiritual healing, experienced by both islanders and people from elsewhere.