Jersey's "hidden gems" dubbed top British attractions

Friday 15 February 2019

Three of Jersey's "hidden gems" have been awarded a place on a prestigious list of Britain's top attractions.

The accolade for Hamptonne Country Life museum, Jersey Museum andLa Hougue Bie came from Visit Britain this week.

Hamptonne and Hougue Bie were both awarded the 'Hidden Gem' accolade. Whereas Jersey Museum and Art Gallery nabbed the 'Gold' award.

Louise Downie, Jersey Heritage’s Director of Curation and Experience, said her team were “delighted” to receive the awards.

Pictured: Jersey Museum received a 'Gold' award.

She added that they “pay tribute to the hard work carried out by the Jersey Heritage team - both front of house and behind the scenes – to create a wonderful visitor experience at Jersey Museum, Hamptonne and La Hougue Bie”.

“The awards are a great start to the year and a boost for everyone ahead of the forthcoming season,” she added.

The 'Hidden Gem' award is for smaller, sometimes overlooked places that nevertheless offer a great visitor experience.

Hamptonne dates from the 15th century and depicts traditional Jersey life across the centuries, featuring calves and piglets in the summer, and an autumnal cider festival allowing the opportunity to watch horses crushing the apples.

Pictured: La Hougue Bie was dubbed a "hidden gem" alongside Hamptonne.

The site at Hougue Bie, meanwhile, spans many eras of history.

The oldest thing found there is 6,000 years old - a passage grave and dolmen, which is one of the ten oldest buildings in the whole world, and lines up with the equinox. The grave contained eight male and female skeletons and is remarkably well-preserved, with visitors able to go inside.

Atop the mound are two churches - one from the 12th century and the other from the 16th - and the site also features a German Bunker which houses a memorial to the slave labourers brought to the island during the Occupation.

Finally, there's a museum which has the world's largest Celtic coin hoard. Found in a Jersey field in 2012 it dates from around 3,000 years ago.

VisitEngland's Gold award, which was handed to Jersey Museum, is for excellence across the board.

The first thing greeting visitors arriving at the museum is a film about the story of Jersey, which has in the past won VisitEngland's Best Told Story award. The museum encompasses all of Jersey's history, starting 250,000 years ago and works its way forward through the millennia. 

One of the highlights is a restored Victorian house, which visitors can inside discover the story of the Ginestet family in 1869 as they fled debt and legal proceedings in Jersey and went to France.

A more recent addition to the museum is the Journal of Jean Chevalier - a 1,000 page manuscript written from 1643-1651, chronicling what life was like in Jersey during the English civil war. You can read it on an iPad next to the original manuscript, which is too delicate to be handled.