All About the Isle of Sark
‘The stars are incredible, aren’t they?’ said Robin, looking upwards. In the absence of street lights, they shone hard and bright against the deep black, every constellation clearly marked.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
The investigation into the identity of the body found in the vault of Ramsay Silver takes Strike from one end of the British Isles to the other (The Hallmarked Man). After his journey to Scotland to talk to the wife of a missing ex-paratrooper, another lead sends him to the tiny island of Sark off the coast of Normandy, France. On this trip however, Robin comes with him.
They were alone together at last, in the most remote place they were ever likely to visit, where nobody else could reach them or interrupt.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Strike is hoping that their night together on the secluded island might provide the perfect opportunity for him to tell Robin what she means to him, but in the end a personal confession comes from her. Robin is getting demanding messages from her boyfriend, Ryan Murphy, and though she is physically safe on Sark, she can’t escape her personal demons. At least in the quiet of their holiday cottage, on this strange and remote place, she has the chance to share with Strike what she’s been going through since the case began.
They passed a church and graveyard and the local police station, both old, low buildings of stone, and after a further five minutes found themselves passing attractive houses.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Sark is unique. Robert Galbraith describes it as very, very beautiful… a quirky island with no cars, no streetlights. You can hear more about the author’s impressions here. It’s the smallest of the Channel Islands with a total land area of just over two square miles; a fertile plateau surrounded by steep granite cliffs, almost split in two by the ocean. Only a thin isthmus called La Coupée joins its two parts, Little and Big Sark. The steep rocky shoreline provides a home for a wide variety of sea life, including puffins, and the human population of roughly five hundred also shares the island with a rich variety of flora and fauna, farm animals, and during the season, a daily influx of tourists and sightseers.
Robin carried her purchase, a walking stick with a rubber handle, back to the pub.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Galbraith admits she was a little cruel to send an amputee like Strike to Sark. All motor vehicles except for tractors are banned on the island and Strike struggles on the unpaved roads. Luckily, Robin finds a walking stick for him at the general store to deal with all the walking. At least Strike doesn’t have to manage the steep climb from Maseline harbour where the ferry from Guernsey deposits visitors. The tractors haul trailers of new arrivals and their luggage to the Avenue, the central area where Strike and Robin get their bearings.
‘I don’t think it is British, strictly speaking,’ said Strike, still trying determinedly not to wince or pant. ‘The Seigneur used to hold the island for the British monarch, or something.’
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Over the centuries the island has developed its own culture and system of governance, and even its own language called ‘Sarkese’, a patois of French. Though few people speak it now, the linguistic influence of Sark’s close neighbour can also be seen in the names of the streets and houses, such as Rue des Laches, and Clos de Camille, places where Strike and Robin go in search of their quarry.
Sark has been inhabited since the stone age and was the site of various religious communities in the middle ages. By the sixteenth century though it had become a notorious base for pirates. To deal with the threat they posed, Queen Elizabeth I gave the fiefdom of Sark to Helier de Carteret, making him the first Seigneur of Sark, on the understanding the island would be populated with at least forty men. They would defend it and swear allegiance to the Crown. The forty ‘tenements’, leased in perpetuity to these settlers, survive to this day.
‘Who’s the Seigneur?’
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
‘Feudal ruler of Sark. It’s a weird place,’ said Strike. ‘Last feudal system in Europe, till 2008, when they decided to try democracy instead.’
While the Seigneur was and remains Lord of the Manor, the island is now governed by Chief Pleas, a parliament of eighteen elected members. Up until 2008, the Chief Pleas was made of the tenants and twelve deputies from the general population.
The changes over the last twenty years to how Sark is governed came about, at least in part, due to pressure from property investors David and Frederick Barclay. They bought the tenement of the island Brecqhou, which lies just off the coast of Sark, in 1993 and built a castle there. The brothers also invested heavily in Sark, and planted experimental vineyards to produce sparkling wine. The vineyard is now closed.
‘Did you know they found silver on Sark in the nineteenth century?’
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. Nineteenth century. They hit a good vein, thought they’d struck it rich…’
The epigraphs to each part of The Hallmarked Man, and many of the chapter epigraphs, are drawn from a novel which describes another unsuccessful business venture on the island — A Maid of the Silver Sea by John Oxenham. You can read more about the book here, but in brief it’s the story of Stephen Gard, a Cornishman like Strike, who comes to Sark to oversee a silver mine. The story is fictional, but the tragedy of the silver mine is fact. In the 1830s efforts were made to open shafts on Little Sark, and initial finds of silver ore were very promising, but as Strike tells Robin, keeping the mine from flooding involved great expense. The ore wasn’t found in sufficient quantity to sustain the enterprise, and debts mounted. Then in 1845 a collapse killed ten men, and the Seigneur was forced by his debts to pass his title to Marie Collings, daughter of the privateer to whom he had mortgaged the fief of Sark.
Isolated ruins are all that remain of the mines themselves, but the enterprise brought new attention to the island. Houses built for the workers are still in use, and the first doctor to live on the island came with the Cornish immigrants.
Robin, meanwhile, was walking up the main street, the Avenue. Barring a shop selling silver jewellery, nearly everything was closed, but at last she spotted a kind of general store, which was open and which seemed to provide everything from basic household goods to greetings cards and toys.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Robin and Strike leave with information rather than souvenirs, but the author visited the silver shop Robin spots, and bought a sterling silver cuff bracelet, imprinted with the Sark crest.
Sark has long attracted artists and artisans, and has weavers, potters and painters among its current residents. Novelist and artist Mervyn Peake spent years on Sark, and the island seeps into his depiction of Castle Gormenghast in his influential fantasy novels. Victor Hugo was inspired by his stay, and painter William Arthur Toplis was so taken by the island when he visited in 1883, he stayed there sixty years. When he produced a book of his paintings of the island, it was John Oxenham, author of A Maid of the Silver Sea, who provided the text.
‘So, from what you’ve seen, would you fancy living on Sark?’ he asked.
The Hallmarked Man, Robert Galbraith
Sark has a great deal to offer, from its natural beauty to its vibrant arts scene; from the dark skies Robin notices as they find their B&B, to the Bel Air pub whose nautical theme reminds Strike of his old Cornish local, the Victory. Robin does think how much she would enjoy being there, were it not for the texts and calls from Ryan, and the investigation takes strides forward on the island. Still, the final answer as to who the man in the cellar might be does not lie on this otherworldly island, but back on the mainland.
