St Helier's Church, known as the Town Church, is one of the 12 parish churches of Jersey.
360-degree panoramic view of the interior of the church by Stuart Abraham
Name
Helier was a Belgian saint who lived as a hermit on an islet in St Aubin's Bay, about three quarters of a mile off the south coast of Jersey. In AD555 he was killed by pirates, beheaded by their leader who feared his men would be converted by Helier's preaching. In consequence Helier soon came to be venerated by the Islanders, and eventually was adopted as the Patron Saint of both Jersey and its capital.
Architecture
Land reclamation means that the church, which was once on the shoreline, is now some way inland. There are iron rings in the boundary wall, which some historians suggest were used to moor boats, but the tide would only have reached here on the highest of spring tides and it is much more likely that the rings were used to tie cattle brought to market in town. The original marketplace was about 60 metres away next to a large rock which was surrounded by the sea at high spring tides.
It is believed that a chapel was erected on the site of the present building very shortly after Helier's death, but the present church was begun in the 11th century. The earliest record is in a document regarding the payment of tithes signed by William the Conqueror, which is assumed to pre-date the Norman Conquest of 1066. All that is visible of the 11th century structure are the remains of window arches on either side of the choir. The building was reconsecrated in 1341 for unknown reasons.
The church building was extended to roughly its present size by the end of the 12th century, but most of that building is also lost. The sections of wall flanking the east window, part of a pier on the north east side of the crossing, the west face of the north door and the adjoining section to the west, and a small section of wall opposite are all that remain of the building period of roughly 1175 to 1200. The porch attached to the north door and the greater part of the nave and crossing were built in the second quarter of the 15th century.
The date of the chancel is impossible to determine, since the original walls have been obliterated by the north chapel on the one side and the south chapel on the other. Most of the north transept dates to the second quarter of the 13th century. The present south transept, vestry, and the westwards extension to the nave are largely Victorian. A major renovation and re-ordering of the church began in 2007, and will take several years.
Additional buildings
A chapel, La Chapelle de la Madeleine, existed in the north west corner of the churchyard until the Reformation. Formerly the Rectory and church offices were on the north side of the churchyard. These were replaced in 1969 by a new Church House building, a large concrete edifice incorporating offices, a church hall, kitchens and a choir vestry, together with a flat. The Rectory was moved to a large, purpose built Georgian house in the early 19th century.
Church history and architecture
Rectors
13th Century
- Nicolas Du Pont 1294
- Robert de Carteret 1295
14th Century
- Johan Le Sauvage 1309
- Pierre d’Artis 1392
- Roger Walden 1371-1385 (Later Archbishop of Canterbury)
15th Century
- Rogier Herbert 1432
- Johan Bunouet 1482-1502
16th Century
- Andre de la Hougue 1502-1536
- Jean Nicolle 1538-1540
- Charles Mabson 1541-1553 (First Protestant Rector)
- Louis Gibaut 1553-1559
- Guillaume Morice 1562
- Thomas Johanne 1567
- Jean de Monanges 1570-1577
- Guillaume Bonhomme 1577-1583
- Pierre Henry dit Dancy 1583-1586
- Mathieu de la Faye 1591
- Jean de Bihan 1593
- Claude Parent 1595
- Thomas Oliver 1596-1638
17th Century
- Pierre d’Assigny 1638-1643
- Pierre Faultrat 1646-1651
- Josué Bonhomme 1654-1657
- Francois Le Couteur 1657-1660
- Jean Dumaresq 1660-1686
- Joseph Pythios 1687-1696
- Jean Dumaresq 1696-1705
18th Century
- Francois Le Couteur 1706-1716
- Francois Le Couteur 1717-1734
- Pierre Daniel Tapin 1735-1761
- Jean Dupré 1761-1784
- Edouarde Dupré 1784-1823
19th Century
- Corbet Hue 1823-1837
- Francis Jeune 1838-1844
- James Hemery 1844-1849
- Philip Filleul 1850-1875
- William Corbet Le Breton 1875-1888
- George Orange Balleine 1888-1906
20th Century
- Samuel Falle 1906-1937
- Mathew Le Marinel 1938-1959
- Alan Stanley Giles 1959-1971
- Thomas Ashworth Goss 1971-1984
- Basil Arthur O’Ferrall 1985-1993
- John Nicholas Seaford 1993-2005
21stCentury
- Robert Key 2005 -
Picture gallery
Click on any image to see a larger version
Leaving church in the 1910s
The interior of the church in the late 20th century
The interior of the church before it was restored
The Town Church viewed from the Royal Square before the buildings on the left were demolished to make way for construction of offices as an extension of the States Building
St Helier's Church
The church in 1870
The church by J Young
19th century drawing
1869
A picture by Philip Godfray
A church fete in 1908
1880
External links
References
- Balleine, G R, Stevens, Joan, The Bailiwick of Jersey (1970). Hodder and Stoughton
- Brett, C E B, Buildings in Town and Parish of St Helier (1977). National Trust for Jersey
- Corbet, Francis, The Parish Church of St Helier Jersey (2004). Parish Church of St Helier
- Corbet, Francis, The Monuments and Windows of the Parish Church of St Helier Jersey
