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The Sark JournalSark Henge and the Buddhist Rock
Sark is treasured through what it has preserved.
These two places matter for the opposite reason.
Sark Henge and the Buddhist Rock are both modern additions to the landscape. Neither is ancient. Neither belongs to a distant, sealed past.
Sark Henge
Sark Henge was erected in 2015 to mark 450 years since Queen Elizabeth I granted the Fief of Sark to Helier de Carteret on 6 August 1565. It stands near Point Derrible.
Nine stones of Jersey granite stand in a ring, each one representing one of Sark鈥檚 medieval territories.
The Buddhist Rock is different
At Bec du Nez, beyond L鈥橢perquerie at the northern tip of the island, a granite boulder carries carvings made by a group of Buddhist monks in 2000.
The carvings arrive from another spiritual and cultural tradition, placed into one of the island鈥檚 most exposed landscapes.
That contrast is what makes the rock interesting.
The Buddhist Rock at Bec du Nez, carved by a group of monks in 2000.
History here survives in different ways: an old structure can simply remain standing, a community can build something new to mark how it remembers itself, as with Sark Henge, or something can arrive quietly from elsewhere and become part of the island simply by staying, as with the Buddhist Rock.
Our very short history of Sark explains the 1565 settlement that Sark Henge commemorates. Walking Sark covers how places like these emerge from the island鈥檚 lanes and headlands, while Sark after dark explains why the Henge changes again under an unlit sky.
