Jersey As It Is - Part 5

This Friday is a blog in which I have transcribed a translation of an essay called "Jersey as It Is", published in 1844, as the result of a winning entry by F. Robious de La Trehonnais which won first prize in the competition of the Jersey Emulation Society.

Having dealt with the history, now we have his "tourist guide" to Jersey as it is in 1844, which is fascinating. No lighthouse on Corbière. A windmill in St Aubin's bay! And while most of it is described in glowing terms, the statue of George II in that ridiculous Roman outfit gets a lashing! It must be remembered that it was not until 2016 that his name and regnal dates – 1727 to 1760 was added to the plinth, so it must have seemed bizarre.

Jersey As It Is - Part 5
The traveller, who arrives from France, enjoys a sight which he cannot forget; scarcely has he passed the Minquiers, those awful rocks, the witness and cause of so many shipwrecks, when before him rises an aerial apparition, a long greyish vapour, which seems to hang over the waves like a transparent mist. 

Every minute of his rapid course adds to the distinctness of this cloud. A bright spot soon appears on the right, some villa, no doubt, shining in the sun. The shade of the promontories invests itself with a deeper tint, and the bays and creeks recede into the land. 

On the left, the Corbière erects its rugged and terrible crest, concealing its base under the misty clouds which rise from the sea that rages around. On the right, Mont-Orgueil castle is seen, dark and frowning, at the extremity of its peninsula. Next appears the fort, with its signal-staff and stern ramparts. 

Noirmont point stretches at the other extremity, and these two characteristic spots are joined by a beach curved like a bow, which soon appears gemmed with verdant clusters of trees, thickly dotted with villas and cottages. The steeples peep from the bosom of the valleys, the sails of numerous vessels whiten the wave, the golden sand of the beach extends all round like an immense girdle, and this fairy-like scenery offers at last to the dazzled eye, the magnificent St. Aubin’s-bay. 

In this immense amphitheatre, which displays itself so gorgeously, the gaze is sometimes on the Hermitage rock and the Elizabeth castle, which interpose their grey mass upon the landscape : sometimes on Noirmont, covered with its shadowy trees :-St. Aubin, reflecting itself in its solitary harbour, and mustering its villas half bid with the trees on the sides of its bills : then that windmill, rising on the sandy shore, so white, so graceful and distinct, on the rich dark green of the hill behind, whose indolent wings, scarcely moved by the sea breeze, leisurely ascend and descend, alternately brightening in the sun.

At last comes St. Helier’s, sending forth to the sky its spires of smoke, which alone give an estimate of its extent ; the harbour, thickly filled with masts, and resembling a long avenue of leafless trees; all this ensemble, this panorama of waves and shores, of life and solitude, of motion and tranquillity; those striking contrasts of forts, cottages, streets, and villages ; all this mixture of objects so heterogeneous, but so harmoniously intermixed, presents one of the most beautiful sights that can greet a mortal eye. 

To the stranger the aspect is certainly English; the language that sounds in his ears, the interior of the hotel where he has taken up his quarters, the peculiar appearance of the inhabitants, everything he meets bears a stamp of English fashion not easily mistaken or overlooked.

To those who have known St. Helier’s these last twenty years, this kind of naturalization to the British isles has taken, since that time, a character of similarity in manners, the difference of which fades away more and more. 

The suburbs, which in a few years have extended themselves around the city, and rise on all sides in rows, crescents, terraces, and parades, are most decidedly English ; those little flower-gardens, so neatly divided by gravelled paths, and defended by slender iron railings, so gracefully fronting the houses. The extreme cleanliness, so bright and comfortable to the eye, contrasts charmingly with the dirty and gloomy aspect of St. Malo and Granville. 

Villas, capriciously constructed, peep through the foliage of luxuriant trees, whose dark green adds to their spotless whiteness. Everywhere plots of grass of velvet smoothness, intersected by white gravelled walks, fragrant shrubs and flowers,-cool and mysterious groves, rose-trees softly waved by transient breezes, send forth in the air the sweet perfumes of their blossoms ; everything contributes to the fairy aspect of those beautiful suburbs. Seldom have Nature and the industry of man joined their skill in so happy a manner. 

The roads which wind around those villas are wide, and kept in good order, with a broad path for pedestrians almost everywhere overshadowed by trees banging over the walls and railings ; and crossing this rural scenery numerous and brilliant equipages give it an air of life and motion.

Besides its suburbs, St. Helier’s boasts of several other remarkable parts. The famous Halkett-place, both a walk and a market, offers rather a singular aspect; on one side a row of symmetrical houses, the ground-floors of which are generally taken up with elegant shops, some of them really attractive, though inferior to those which are to be seen in King street. On the other side is the market, which, viewed on a Saturday, presents a dense crowd, coming in and going out. 

The Royal Square comes next, with its weekly meetings, where political coteries agitate, in open air, their most important questions. In the middle rises a statue that resembles nobody, that has not been placed upon its pedestal by any motive of reminiscence, respect, or glory ; a dull monument without a name or a date, which has not even the merit of execution. Stupid and vain parody which has usurped the place where Peirson fell, bravely defending his flag, and which rises more insignificant than a rough stone, where the statue of the hero ought to stand proud and alone !