St Helier
| Saint Helier Jèrriais: Saint Hélyi | |
| Bailiwick of Jersey | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Island: | Jersey |
| Location: | 49°11’13"N, 2°6’25"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 33,522 (2011) |
| Local Government | |
St Helier (French: Saint-Hélier) is the only town of the island of Jersey. The town has a population of about 28,000; roughly 31.2% of the total population of the island. St Helier is the capital of the island, although Government House is in fact situated in the Parish of St Saviour).
The town of St Helier is in the Parish of St Helier, although some of the town area spreads into adjacent St Saviour, and its suburbs sprawl into St Lawrence and St Clement.
History
It is thought that the site of St Helier was settled at the time of the Roman control of Gaul but there is historical record from the island at that time.
The mediæval hagiographies of Helier, the patron saint martyred in Jersey and after whom the parish and town are named, suggest a picture of a small fishing village on the dunes between the marshy land behind and the high-water mark. The Parish Church of St Helier is now some considerable distance from the sea, but at the time of its original construction it was on the edge of the dunes at the closest practical point to the offshore islet called the Hermitage (site of Helier's martyrdom). Before land reclamation and port construction started, boats could be tied up to the churchyard wall on the seaward side.
An Abbey of St Helier was founded in 1155 on L'Islet, a tidal island adjacent to the Hermitage. Closed at the Reformation, the site of the abbey was fortified to create the castle that replaced Mont Orgueil as the Island's major fortress. The new Elizabeth Castle was named after the Queen by the Governor of Jersey 1600-1603; Sir Walter Raleigh.
Until the end of the 18th century, the town consisted chiefly of a string of houses, shops and warehouses stretching along the coastal dunes either side of the Church of St Helier and the adjacent marketplace (since 1751, Royal Square). La Cohue (a Norman word for courthouse) stood on one side of the square, now rebuilt as the Royal Court and States Chamber (called collectively the States Building). The market cross in the centre of the square was pulled down at the Reformation, and the iron cage for holding prisoners was replaced by a prison gatehouse at the western edge of town.
King George II gave £200 towards the construction of a new harbour - previously boats would be beached on a falling tide and unloaded by cart across the sands. A statue of the king (by John Cheere) was erected in the square in 1751 in gratitude, and the market place was renamed Royal Square, although in Jérriais the old name of Lé Vièr Marchi (the old market) persists to this day.
The Royal Square was the scene of the Battle of Jersey on 6 January 1781; the last attempt by French forces to seize Jersey. John Singleton Copley's epic painting The Death of Major Pierson captures an imaginative version of the scene.
As harbour construction moved development seaward, a growth in population meant that marshland and pasture north of the ribbon of urban activity was built on speculatively. Settlement by immigrants from mainland Britain added quarters of colonial-style town houses to the traditional building stock.
Continuing military threats from France spurred the construction of a citadel fortress, Fort Regent, on the Mont de la Ville, the crag dominating the shallow basin of St Helier.
Military roads linking coastal defences around the island with St Helier harbour had the effect of enabling farmers to exploit Jersey's temperate micro-climate and get their crops onto new fast sailing ships and then steamships to get their produce into the markets of London and Paris before the competition. This was the start of Jersey's agricultural prosperity in the 19th century.
From the 1820s, peace with France and better communications enabled by steamships and railways to coastal ports encouraged an influx of English-speaking residents. Speculative development covered the marshy basin north of the central coastal strip as far as the hills within a period of about 40 years, providing the town with terraces of elegant town houses.
In the second half of the 19th century, the need to facilitate access to the harbour for hundreds of trucks laden with potatoes and other produce for export prompted a programme of road-widening which swept away many of the ancient buildings of the town centre. Pressure for redevelopment has meant that very few buildings remain in urban St Helier which date to before the 19th century, giving the town primarily a Regency or Victorian character.
Pierre Le Sueur, the reforming Connétable of St Helier, was responsible for installing sewerage and provision of clean water in St Helier following outbreaks of cholera in the 1830s. An obelisk with fountain in the town centre was raised to his memory following his premature death in office from overwork.
In the 1970s, a programme of pedestrianisation of the central streets was undertaken.
In 1995, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jersey's liberation from Nazi occupation, and thus 50 years of peace, a sculpture was erected in what is now called Liberation Square, in front of the Pomme d'Or Hotel, the focal point for the celebrations when the island was originally liberated.
The sculpture was originally to depict islanders releasing doves of peace, but this came under fierce criticism, with some islanders remarking that had any doves been on the island during the occupation, they would have been eaten by starving German soldiers. Therefore, the sculpture was revised to show islanders raising the British flag, as they had done on the day of liberation 50 years previous.
Liberation Square is now a focal point in the town - the former terminus of the Jersey Railway housed the Jersey Tourism office until 2007.
In 2006, it was reported[1] that the Connétable, with the backing of the Chief Minister of Jersey, was to seek city status for St Helier.
Sites of the town
Many places in St Helier have been formally listed as Sites of Special Interest by the Planning and Environment department of Jersey.[2]
Royal Square
The Royal Square is the centre of St Helier. The statue of King George II in the Royal Square is the zero milestone from which all distances in Jersey are measured.
Central Market and Beresford Market
The Central Market in Beresford Street is an indoor market which was opened in 1882.[3] It is an official Site of Special Interest,[4] and is popular with tourists and locals. It features Victorian architecture including cast iron structures, and an ornamental fountain in the centre. The market comprises stalls selling flowers, fruit, and vegetables, as well as small shops and cafés.
Beresford Market is a separate building next to the Central Market, and specialises in fish mongery.[5]
Culture
St Helier contains cultural facilities at the Jersey Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Jersey Opera House, the Jersey Arts Centre, the performance venue of St James, the sports and entertainment facilities at Fort Regent, the Jersey Library and the library of La Société Jersiaise.
Sports facilities include Springfield Stadium, swimming pools, pétanque pitches, and badminton. Motor sports events take place on roads in the Parish as well as an annual Town Criterium, and the start and finish of the Jersey Marathon.
The parish has hosted the Jersey Battle of Flowers carnival since 1902.
The town is now entirely English-speaking, though the old Jérriais language of the island is appreciated as part of Jersey's heritage. Many of St Helier's road names and street names are bilingual English and French or English and Jèrriais in Jérriais. The names in the various languages are not usually translations: distinct naming traditions survive alongside each other, for example Royal Square is named Lé Vièr Marchi ("the old market") in Jérriais.
Outside links
References
- ↑ Jersey Evening Post, 5 August 2006
- ↑ Sites of special interest (SSIs)
- ↑ Central Market
- ↑ Central Market - Flooring
- ↑ Jersey Markets Information
Books
- Balleine's History of Jersey, Marguerite Syvret and Joan Stevens (1998) ISBN 1-86077-065-7.
- Jersey in Figures, 2003–2004, published by the States of Jersey.