St James (formerly known as St James-the-Less) is a former church in
Saint Peter Port
St. Peter Port (french: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958.
St. P ...
,
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
. After falling out of use, it was converted in 1985 and is now used as a concert and assembly hall. It stands on College Street, roughly opposite
Elizabeth College.
History
In October 1815 Admiral
James de Saumarez suggested the idea of building a church for use by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
garrison based in
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
where services could be held in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
(as against French in other island churches). The church was designed by
John Wilson and completed by 1818,
at a cost of nearly £7,000.
Sketched in 1832 by
J. M. W. Turner. Used as a chapel by nearby
Elizabeth College.
In 1970 the church became redundant and started to decay until in 1981 ''The Friends of St James'' association was formed to restore and manage the building. The
States of Guernsey
The States of Guernsey (french: États de Guernesey), sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guern ...
agreed to pay for this restoration in 1983 and the building was officially re-opened on 5 July 1985 by the
Duke of Kent
Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...
.
[ The restoration of the building winning a ]Civic Trust Award
The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment.
As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...
in 1986.
In 2002 the Dorey Centre, comprising meeting rooms, café and administration offices, were completed,[ which gave the centre additional facilities such as exhibition space and to cater for formal dinners and weddings. The gallery was chosen to house the Guernsey Millennium Tapestry.
]
Features
* Whittaker Hall with superb acoustics for concerts, can accommodate 576 people in theatre style seating or 217 for dinners
* Dorey Room can seat 90 people
* Founders Room can seat 35
* Walter Room, boardroom
* Rothschild Room, boardroom
* Café St James
* Bailiwick of Guernsey Millennium Tapestry
See also
St James website
Guernsey Tapestry
* Niven, Peter, ''St. James, Guernsey'', 2016,
References
{{Coord, 49, 27, 24.3, N, 2, 32, 20, W, display=title
Infrastructure completed in 1818
Buildings and structures in Saint Peter Port
Churches in Guernsey
Tourist attractions in Guernsey
Entertainment in Guernsey
Former churches in the United Kingdom