Écréhou

The Écréhou are with the small Minquiers two Archipel S Anglo-Norman made of island S and rocks located in the sea of the Manche. The majority of these small islands are submerged by the tide and thus uninhabitable.

Political statute

Administratively, these islands belong to the Paroisse of Saint Martin's day, and thus depend on the Bailliage of Jersey, in insular Normandy (Channel Islands).

Geography

Situation

Écréhou (or Écréhous ) is located at a little more than 11 km at the North-East of Jersey and a little less than 15 km of the French coasts of the Cotentin (EPD. of the English Channel), with height of Portbail. Their exact localization (Main Island) east:

49° 17 ' 00" of northern longitude
1° 56 ' 00" of western latitude

Toponymy

The name of the Écréhou is drawn from the old language norrois brought in Normandy by the Normands. Holm , become hou , is a toponymic element which one also finds in the names of Jéthou, Lihou, Brecqhou, Burhou and other small islands. It means island and the `' H'' was formerly aspired, near to a `' hr''. One also finds this suffix in the names of common Normans like Quettehou, but so Scandinavian like Stockholm.

The first part seems to come from sker which means reef .

The principal islands of the archipelago are (name Jersey in italic):

the Mistress Island ( Maîtr' Island ), with the ruins of a Vault.
Marmotière ( Marmotchiéthe ), with some grouped houses being used of refuge with fishermen and holiday at Jersey summer. These house-islands are packed the ones against the others. There is even a very official Maison of the Customs at the top of which fleet the Union Jack.
the White Island ( breadth Bliantch' Island )

And some rocks called:

Half (crumb ) the

Large Black ( Grand' Naithe ) the

Écrevière ( Êtchièrviéthe )

Insane ( Insane Breadth ) the

Frouquie ( Froutchie ).

Geology

Écréhou belong to the same geological unit as the `' Dirouilles'' and the `' Stones of Lecq'' (known as also the Paternosters ).

History

Small islands, like all the Channel Islands and the county of Cotentin, furents annexed to the Duchy of Normandy in 933. After William the Conqueror and the conquest of the England in 1066, Écrehou belonged to the Anglo-Norman unit and were not claimed by Philippe Auguste in 1204 at the time of the annexation of the duchy. In 1259, the king Henri III of England however paid a homage to the king holy Louis for the islands Normans, of which Écréhou.

The principal islands were attended by the Jersey ones, owners of huts. These peasants exploited farms in the parish of Saint Martin's day, and joined the archipelago in order to fish there and to cut Varech at the authorized times.

Smuggling

Uninhabitable, the Minquiers and Écréhou were used as reference mark for the smugglers, in particular at the XIXe century, for " to hide there during a few weeks the food products which they sought clandestinely to introduce in France or in Jersey ". (Charles of Morandière). According to the times and the needs, they thus transfer to forward " Indian s" , of draperies, of wool, lead, tin and the Tobacco (all produced known as of " free trade " , supplied with the cargoes brought back by the Corsair S since 1689).

The historian Robert Sinsoilliez reports in his dedicated work to Minquiers and Ecréhou that in 1757, at the time of the lifting of a topographic chart of Jersey, an observer consigned in its book of edge: " They make traffic of all kinds of goods prohibited in francfe which they introduce with quantity of tobacco into the Provinces of Normandy and Brittany from which they draw from the considerable sums ". These islands, providing many and inaccessible hiding places, they passed in fraud of great quantity of tobacco to smoke or chew. Jersey was then a place of production of tobacco. On their side, the French, although undesirable and supervised by the customs, used these islands as bases logistic for the traffic of the " Proof spirit " , an alcohol which arrived via barrels at the false funds transferred onto the cutters in the various wearing of Jersey. Alcohol was strongly taxed by the British.

They are today visited by holiday makers or are used as refuge with some fishermen.

Sovereignty

In 1886, France claimed for the first time sovereignty on these uncultivated rocks. And thereafter, the business was carried in 1950 in front of the the International Court of Justice which confirmed with the British Couronne its possession of the small islands of Écréhous and Minquiers, like dependence of Jersey the November 17th 1953.

Two eccentrics which lived for a long time on Écréhous are proclaimed “king of Écréhous” while being made pass for only sovereigns of the islands. The first, Philippe Pinel lived on the White Island of 1848 with 1898 and gave its “rights” to the queen Victoria. In the years 1960 and 1970 Alphonse Gastelois found refuge on the island of Marmotière, because of legal proceedings in its opposition. He officially claimed with Elisabeth II, the title of Lord of Écréhous, evoking the old man Norman Droit in virtue of which, any person remaining ten years plus one day on an uninhabited territory can claim with the Duc of Normandy to become her legal representative there.

In 1993 finally, and once again in 1994, of the French come from Normandy took possession of the islands, planted the Norman Drapeau there and a mass was celebrated. The purpose of this peaceful demonstration was to protest by a symbolic gesture against the new payments of the fishing zones in the English Channel. In 1994, taken back this action was carefully observed by the police force of the States of Jersey, while keeping well the Union Jack, which had been insult in 1993.

Literature

One owes with Charles Frémine (1841-1906) a novel entitled `' the king of Écrehou'' (1884), published at E. Dentu in Paris. The text is available on the site of the Library of Lisieux:

the king of Écréhou (full text)

Random links: