The parishes of Jersey (Jerriais: ) are the civil and religious administrative districts of Jersey in the Channel Islands. All have access to the sea and share a name with their ancient parish churches. The parishes and roles within them are based on ancient Jersey law, drawing from the Norman customary law system. As such, many of the parish roles and structures have often been ill-defined. History Names Eleven of the twelve parishes are named for the saint of their parish church. The remaining parish's church does not have a saint, but the parish is still named for its church. Such uniform naming would be fairly unusual for parishes in England. In Jèrriais, the parishes have named groupings: the northern parishes are called (uphill parishes) and the southern and western parishes are called (sloped parishes). Origins The origins of the Jersey parishes is unknown, however it is certain that they are ancient institutions. It has been suggested that the five central parishes (St Saviour, St John, St Mary, St Peter and St Lawrence) date to around 475 AD. The parish system is much more important in Jersey than in England or post-Napoleon France.:15 The uniformity of the parishes in size ensured their dominance over the feudal boundaries. The uniformity may in fact be designed out of a reorganisation of the Diocese of Coutances in the twelfth century by Archbishop Geoffrey de Montbrai, following Viking raids of the islands. The new boundaries paid little heed to the fiefs or to geographical factors (hence why Gorey and St. Aubin are not parish centres, despite being populated). By Norman times, the parish boundaries were firmly fixed and remain largely unchanged since. It was likely set in place due to the tithe system under Charlemagne, where each property must contribute to the church, so each property would have had to be established within a parish. Although in France the role of the parishes remained strictly ecclesiastical, in Jersey the parishes adopted a role in secular administration as well. For example, there is the ancient practice of - the recording of contracts, court decisions and legislation by the parishes. In 1545, the States set up a system of districts based on parish boundaries for defensive purposes. This started the relationship between the parish and the military. Archery ranges, parade grounds and arsenals known as were set up in various parish centres. In the thirteenth century,