St Helier's history
is a core part of tomorrow's vision
by ROGER HILLS, HEAD OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS, JERSEY HERITAGE s “Les longs
ouvenirs font les grands peoples - Long memories make great peoples
”
When I first came to Jersey in the early 1990s, I lived in a rented flat in La Motte Street. On my arrival from the harbour, once I had got over the initial disappointment of being greeted by a newly constructed traffic underpass and enormous empty waterfront building site, I began to explore and appreciate the real qualities of the town of St. Helier. Having been brought up in a part of London where nearly all historic ironwork had been removed and melted down for the war effort, I was immediately struck by the quality and extent of ironwork that survives here – just one of the many features that adds a depth and interest to the town’s streets.
Over the past twenty or so years, I have come to appreciate and value many more aspects of the town’s
rich and deep history. We can see glimpses into its early story with the remains of a prehistoric dolmen still lying buried under L'Avenue et Dolmen du Pre des Lumieres, archaeological evidence of
settlement from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, and an early 13th century aisled-hall discovered in Old Street. The oldest standing building is the Parish Church of St. Helier, first mentioned in 1090 and with evidence of early Norman
architecture, which has been added to and developed to the present day. As the medieval period
progressed a settlement grew up around the church and market square (now Royal Square), with stone-built houses akin to those found in the countryside. Eventually, by the later 16th century, St. Helier was formally recognised as a town.
The town remained relatively small, only reaching between Snow Hill and The Parade until the late 1700s, and less than a hundred buildings survive from this early period. All this changed in the early 1800s when the wars with France came to an end and an influx of new residents, including many retired British
soldiers and their families, boosted the town’s economy and development. The peace also
allowed greater links to the outside world which was reflected in the expansion of the harbour and
steamship connections to England.
Greater demands for fashionable new housing led to the town streets reaching out across the entire basin of St. Helier into surrounding fields, gardens and orchards – the layout of today’s streets often echoing the old field boundaries. The 19th century development of a town was frequently in a planned and elegant manner, taking shape as grand set piece terraces for the wealthy and terraces of more modest houses and terraced cottages for the working classes. Although development and expansion has continued to this day, it is these 19th century developments of Georgian and Victorian styles of architecture that have had a profound impact on the town’s distinctive character.
It is right that as each successive generation of Islanders inherit this rich architectural legacy, they both care for those buildings of heritage value and distinctiveness and explore opportunities for
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