Iconic school building could be sold on open market

A historic parish-owned school building which St Clement said was “fairly likely” to be taken over by another school or nursery after St Christopher’s School was evicted could now be sold on the open market.

Recently re-elected Constable Marcus Troy will next week ask parishioners to approve a plan to advertise the striking Grade 4 Listed 1901 school building on La Rue de la Chapelle for private sale at a Parish Assembly.

It comes less than a year after previous occupier St Christopher’s School’s financial turmoil led to an eviction order, asset seizures and the ultimate closure of the 60-year-old institution.

At the time, Constable Troy told Express that the building’s deeds required the building to continue use as a school or nursery, and that organisations fitting the building’s educational-use restrictions were already “lining up” to occupy it.

He noted that the parish had been pursuing St Christopher’s over unpaid rent, but had offered to reduce this due to the school’s financial difficulties, but eviction became inevitable when they could not keep up.

“I have to look after the parish’s estates and property,” he said at the time. “In my oath, I swore to look after them better than my own.”

The history of the building

The 1901 building – which is on the Island’s Historic Buildings Register – was one of nine parish schools constructed in the late Victorian period following the 1894 Law on Primary Instruction, which introduced compulsory education for children aged between five and 12 and required every parish to provide a school.

The new schools replaced dozens of smaller private establishments which had previously served the Island.

In making an application to the then-Minister for Planning Rob Duhamel for its Grade 4 Listing in 2014, Jersey Heritage described the site as a “purpose-built Victorian primary school”, with its layout reflecting the attitudes of the era – including separate classrooms and entrances for boys and girls, as well as accommodation for the head teacher.

Although later extensions and alterations have been made, the building maintains many original features.

Features identified in the listing report include its window dressings, slate roof, tall triangular-gabled entrance porch, sash windows, decorative gates and the well-known granite plaque reading “St Clement’s Parochial School 1901”.

A school’s painful final chapter

The building’s most recent occupier, St Christopher’s School ultimately closed its doors last year.

The school had faced mounting debts, court action and enforcement proceedings. In August 2025, the Petty Debts Court ordered its managers to leave the St Clement premises immediately and pay more than £77,000 in rent and legal costs.

The school’s financial troubles had already led to the seizure and later auction of assets including a minibus and two pupil-designed animal sculptures from the Go Wild Gorillas and Tortoise Takeover trails.

Express first revealed in December 2024 that the private primary school owed government £100,000 in unpaid taxes and Social Security contributions.

Employment Tribunal cases also found that there had been “systemic” issues with payslips and underpayments affecting staff.

Yet the school had once been described by parents and former staff as a close-knit, family-style environment. Its final inspection report recorded pupils saying that their small school was “like a family”.

Next steps

The Parish Assembly to decide on whether to proceed with an open-market sale will be held at the parish hall next week, on Tuesday 30 June at 7pm.

The matter is the sole item on the agenda.

A notice from St Clement published this week stated: “An Assembly of the Principals and Electors of the Parish of St Clement will be held at the Parish Hall on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 7pm to: accept the recommendation of the Connétable and Procureurs du Bien Public that the 1901 School Building formerly occupied by St Christophers School, be sold on the open market.”

The parish notice does not set out a guide price or identify a prospective purchaser.

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