Écréhous

The Écréhous (or in Jèrriais: Êcrého) are a group of islands and rocks that are 6 mi (9.6 km) northeast of Jersey. They are 8 mi (12.8 km) away from France. They are part of the Parish of St. Martin in the Bailiwick of Jersey. History Church In 1203, John, Duke of Normandy, gave the Ecrehos to the Abbey of Val-Richer so that it could build a church there. The monks went back to Val-Richer in 1413. Their church on La Maîtr'Île slowly turned into ruins. Crimes In the 17th century, the Ecrehos were used by smugglers. The main items smuggled through the Ecrehos in the 1690s were lead and gunpowder, which were sent to Saint-Malo. To control the voting in Jersey, citizens were often kidnapped and left on the islands until after it had finished. International Court of Justice case In 1950, France started a case against the United Kingdom in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case was to decide the country that owned the Minquiers and the Ecrehos. The French fished there, but Jersey made the laws. In the Minquiers and Ecrehos case, the ICJ considered the history of the area and gave the islands to Jersey on November 17, 1953. Islets These are the largest islets in the group: Maîtr'Île La Marmotchiéthe ('La Marmotière' in gallicized form) Lé Bliantch'Île (La Blanche Île in gallicized form) Some of the others are the follwing: Les D'mies La Grand' Naithe L'Etchièrviéthe Lé Fou La Froutchie All of them but the largest three go underwater at high tide. There is no fresh water on the islands, and nobody lives on any of them. Erosion has caused them to be much smaller than they may have been in the past. Maîtr'Île, the largest islet, is about 300 m (0.19 mi) long. References