Les Pierres de Lecq (
Jèrriais Les Pièrres dé Lé) or the
Paternosters are a group of uninhabitable rocks or a reef in the
Bailiwick of Jersey between
Jersey and
Sark, 16 km north of Grève de Lecq in
Saint Mary, and 22.4 km west of the
Cotentin Peninsula in
Normandy.
Only three of the rocks remain visible at high tide L'Êtaîthe (the eastern one), La Grôsse (the big one) et La Vouêtaîthe (the western one). The area has one of the greatest tidal ranges in the world, sometimes being as much as 12 metres.
The name Paternosters is connected with a legend relating to the colonisation of Sark in the 16th century. According to this legend a boatload of women and children was wrecked on the reef and their cries can still be heard from time to time in the wind. Superstitious sailors would say the Lord's Prayer when passing the rocks, hence the name Paternosters.
The rocks are a Ramsar site, and support a variety of small cetaceans including dolphins. It is considered to form a biogeographical boundary.
