342 SI'. iM:'i'i:i;-iM)iri i\ iiV(;().M: timks. 



through nearly two centuries, for her freedom from serious 

 molestation, although it was not always fully respected by the 

 enemies of the mother-country. It was confirmed by a special 

 Bull of Pope Sixtus IV., dated at Rome in March, 1483, and I 

 wish to notice how^ evidently His Holiness considered St. Peter- 

 Port as the metropolis of the Channel Islands. The Bull 

 declares that upon the grievous complaint of King Edw^ard IV., 

 and of the inhabitants of the islands, of the various depredations 

 committed by their enemies upon them, their dwellings, goods, 

 and possessions, also more especially upon their churches, 

 among w^hich is one called by the name of the Blessed Peter of 

 the Haven of the Sea ; His Holiness threatens all who shall in 

 future molest them, with the greatest and deepest curses at his 

 command. After thus mentioning St. Peter-Port Church, and 

 this only of all the island churches, by name, the Pope orders : 

 — " And that this our sentence may be brought to the notice of 

 all men, w^e wdll and command that i\posto1ic Letters containing 

 the same sentence be affixed to the doors of the churches of St. 

 Peter in Rome, Canterbury, London, Salisbmy, Nantes, Leon, 

 Treguier, and of the said St. Peter of the Haven of the Sea in 

 the island of Guernsey," in order that none may pretend 

 ignorance of its provisions. St. Peter-Port Church w^as thus 

 placed in very good company by the Pope, for the seven other 

 churches mentioned are all Cathedrals. 



Being thus assured of safety, the townspeople apparently 

 allow^ed the w^all to fall into decay, or it may have been entirelj^ 

 removed ; it is not mentioned later, and its position Avas utterly 

 forgotten by 1684. In that year it was represented to the Court 

 by the Constables of the town parish that the Barriers of the 

 town were for the greater part broken and lost (brisees et 

 perdues) ; it was therefore ordered that the said Constables and 

 Douzeniers should betake themselves to the places where the 

 barriers w^ere in ancient times, and should put in position new' 

 ones, after due enquiry as to the spots, and should register the 

 positions and places where they should be put, to be ready in 

 case of need. In consequence of this order, no doubt, the 

 stones which at present mark the barriers were set up ; though 

 some of them have been displaced, buried and recovered since 

 then. These stones bear the following legend : Barrieres de la 

 Ville — Nicolas Careye, James Careye, Conestables, 1700. 



Two events during the Tudor period deserve our attention. 

 The first of these is the endow^ment of the parish school of St. 

 Peter-Port in the days of " Bluff King Hal." It was on Easter 

 Day, 1513, that a good old couple, Thomas Le Marquant and 

 Jannette Thelry, his wdfe, appeared in the Town Church, before 

 the Bailiff and three Jurats, and formally declared the gift 

 which they had made to St. Peter-Port of a house and garden 

 on the north side of the chapel of St. Julian, that the Parish 



