Welcome to Sark, crown jewel of the Channel Islands.
Here are some tips to help you make the most of your visit:
Do wear comfortable shoes suitable for travel by foot.
Sark has several walking paths which showcase spectacular scenery including cliff top views.
Do not bring a gun. The last time someone attempted to take over Sark, it didn’t go well.
The island of Sark is sandwiched between Guernsey and Jersey,
about 80 miles (129 km) south of the coast of Britain. It’s tiny; about 2.10 square
miles (5.44 km2) and home to around 600 people. The official languages are English and French;
a few residents also speak Sercquiais, an old Norman dialect native to the island.
Sark is a British royal fiefdom that has been following its own set of laws based on ancient
Norman law for over 400 years. At the time of our story it was governed autonomously by a Seigneur
or Dame, a hereditary position. There was also a small "parliament” made up of residents called
the Court of Chief Pleas. There’s no airport on the island, goods are shipped via cargo boat or
ferry. Cars are banned; the citizens walk, bicycle, and use horses & carts or tractors
to tow larger items. There are no street lights either. Sark is a refuge from the modern world;
it’s slow-paced, peaceful, and quiet. The tale of the invasion has now
passed into legend and there are a couple of different versions as to exactly what happened.
August 1990 André Gardes, an unemployed nuclear
physicist from Rocheville, France researched his family history. He became convinced that
he was a legitimate descendant of Hélier de Carteret, the first lord of Sark, who received
the fiefdom from the hands of Queen Elizabeth I. Therefore he should be the Seigneur of Sark. André
decided to make this happen by staging a coup. He concealed a semi-automatic assault rifle along
with 260 rounds of ammunition and managed to get his weapon through French, Jersey, and Guernsey
customs. He took the 50-minute ferry ride from Guernsey to Sark dressed in combat fatigues.
Upon arrival, André wandered through his would-be fiefdom. The town was small, on the unpaved main
street, there were a couple of pubs, 2 hotels, and a food shop. André posted a few notices up
and down the street and on Sark’s main notice board. Prior to his trip, he had already alerted
the world's embassies of his coup intentions by telex--an old school telephone to printer network.
According to the notice he set a deadline after which he would, “rightfully” claim Seigneur of
Sark, take over the island, its airspace, and territorial waters. The deadline was the next day
at noon. The flier also warned that ‘violators, would be seen off with "rigorous force".
Satisfied with his declaration, André went to bed down in the churchyard for the night.
The Vingtenier or assistant constable Trevor Kendall, one of Sark’s two volunteer part-time
constables noticed André’s flier. In fact, he was one of a few citizens of Sark to do so.
The other citizens who read it took it as a joke. But Constable Kendall took it seriously,
he was already suspicious, it was illegal to sleep rough on Sark.
The next morning, the only other law enforcement officer on Sark, Constable Phil Perrée,
took a stroll along the beach and throughout the town looking for any signs of an invading force.
Not long before noon, he found André still dressed in his fatigues, sitting on a park bench,
loading his gun. Sadly for André, none of the island’s residents had decided to join his coup.
Constable Perrée casually chatted with André about the upcoming invasion, complimenting him on his
gun. He eventually talked André into handing over his gun so he could admire it up close. André,
being no fool, didn't want the gun turned against him, so he removed the magazine before handing it
over for inspection. Constable Peree took the gun and promptly socked André in the nose and then
tackled him while he was incapacitated. Then André was taken into custody, thus ending the invasion.
The Seigneur of Sark, John Michael Beaumont missed the attempted invasion; he had taken the ferry to
Guernsey to do some banking. The gun used by André in the attempted coup now sits in the Sark Museum
next to old ships and a dedicated exhibit to one of the island’s two original telephone calls.
André was temporarily taken to Sark’s tiny prison, which is known for possibly being the world’s
smallest prison. It’s just two windowless cells, one measuring six feet by six (1.82 m x 1.82 m)
and the other measuring six feet by eight, (1.82 m x 2.4 m) with a three-foot-wide (.91 m) corridor
that runs in front of them. Each cell contains a wood-slatted bed and thin mattress.
Often the prison is used to hold drunken tourists until they sober up or until the ferry
arrives and they can be kicked off the island. Per judicial powers granted to the island in
the 16th century, the Sark prison can only hold prisoners for a maximum of two days.
If longer punishment is needed, the offender is shipped off to Guernsey.
André received a 7-day jail sentence, so he was sent to Guernsey to serve
out the rest of his sentence. Sark had to pay Guernsey for use of their jail,
a small hardship for the island. After serving his sentence, André was deported to France.
Believe it or not, the next summer André tried to return to Sark, possibly for a second coup
attempt. However, the ferry captain recognized him and refused to let him on the ferry.
It’s rather surprising that André received such a short jail sentence.
But all of the Channel islands and Sark in particular have unique ancient laws.
Probably the most famous law is the Haro Clamor, a legal injunction. If a resident of the Channel
Islands feels that they are being wronged they can invoke the Haro Clamor by going to
the location of the offense and kneeling in front of two witnesses and the wrong-doer.
Then they raise one hand in the air and exclaim “Hear me! Hear me! Hear me! Come to my aid,
my Prince, for someone does me wrong.” Then they must recite the Lord’s Prayer in French.
Then the grievance must be put in writing and lodged with the court clerk within 24 hours.
Invoking the Haro Clamor results in an immediate injunction where the alleged wrong-doer must stop
doing the challenged activities until the court hears the case. If the wrong-doer refuses to stop,
they are fined, no matter which party is in the right. If the resident who invoked the Haro did so
without a valid reason, they must pay a penalty. The last time the Haro Clamor was used by a
resident of Sark was in 1970 in a dispute over a garden wall.
Think trying to steal an island is crazy? That’s the tip of the iceberg.
Here are 20 of the Weirdest things that have ever been stolen by thieves: