Frontage of a cafe

Town Walk

Starting at Beresford Street Kitchen

A short stroll through Town to discover some hidden gems of historic St Helier

Walk Details

  • 30 Minutes
  • Starts at: Beresford Street Kitchen
  • Ends at: Beresford Street Kitchen
  • 1 Mile
  • Beginner
Parking at Minden Place car park
From the entrance of Beresford Street Kitchen turn right.

Walk a few paces and take the entrance on your right into  the Fish Market. Beresford Market, now known as the Fish Market, was built in 1841 and has  reduced in size compared to the original building. The market was named  after William Beresford, the first Viscount of Jersey. The Beresford Street  entrance is a great example of Victorian public architecture.

Frontage of a cafe

Beresford Street Kitchen

Walk through the Fish Market and exit on the far side,  turning right.

Across the road stands Minden Place car park. This land was once owned  by the Le Geyt family and was named in honour of William Le Geyt, Jersey’s  first Postmaster, who fought in the Battle of Minden of 1759. The car park  was built on the site of the Victorian Cattle Market. The pub to the right of  the car park entrance is one of St Helier’s earliest hotel inns and dates from  the late Georgian period.

Cross at the traffic lights to the corner of Minden Place and  head north on Bath Street. Take the first left into Minden Street.

The music shop on the corner occupies an attractive Victorian building.  Minden Street has a rare example of a 19th century warehouse on the  left and the Salvation Army’s assembly rooms and citadel on the right.

The Salvation Army is a Christian church and charity that was founded  in London in 1864 and continues to serve the community from these  buildings today.

Walk to the end of the road and turn right onto Burrard Street.  Take the second right into Halkett Place.

Walk past the Library and on the left there is stone plaque in the pavement  outside number 101 Halkett Place where Florence Rowe was born.  She married Jesse Boot, of Boots the Chemist, and in their retirement  the couple made many gifts to the Island including the Glass Church,  Coronation Park and FB Fields.

Walk towards Wesley Grove Methodist Church.
A plaque set in wall to mark Florence Rowe

Memorial Plaque for Florence Rowe

Wesley Grove was built by the French speaking Methodists of St Helier and  opened in 1847. They had been meeting since 1790 when Methodism was  a relatively new religion to the Island. By 1838 there was a Methodist chapel  in every parish and it became the most active religious movement in Jersey  in the nineteenth century.

Walk through the small car park to the left of the Church and  turn left onto Vauxhall Street.  On the right you have an imposing pair of townhouses with the name  Brussels Place inscribed on a pediment. St Helier expanded rapidly in the  early 19th century and Brussels Place was one of the first buildings in this  newly-laid out street on the outskirts of the Town. On the left you have  some more modest 19th century houses retaining many original features.

At the end of the road you can see the Jersey Baptist Church.

Take the first left into Duhamel Place, The attractive terrace of houses on the right was built around 1840.

Jersey Terraced housing

Duhamel Place

Take the first right into Duhamel Street and at the end of the  road turn left onto New Street.

A short way down, on the opposite side of the road, is the 1937 Playhouse theatre, now converted into apartments. This site was originally a chapel  and later became a social club associated with the Catholic church of  St Thomas’s nearby. It was modernised in 1908 to include a cinema  (possibly the first in Jersey) and the front was re-built in 1937 in the popular  Art Deco style. The theatre opened in 1938 and was the home of the local repertory company the Denville Players until it closed in 1964.

At the junction turn left onto Burrard Street and then cross  over into Don Street.
The frontage of the Playhouse Theatre

Playhouse Theatre

Take the first left onto Waterloo Street. On the left you will pass Waterloo  Lane, a very narrow lane which still has an exposed historic cobbled  surface.

At the end of Waterloo Street, carefully cross the main road and turn right.
A cobbled lane in St Helier

Waterloo Lane

Enter the Central Market via the first entrance on your left. This was built  as the New Market in 1882, and is an outstanding example of a Victorian  covered market with the most impressive cast iron architecture in Jersey.  The entrances are decorated with intricate designs showing animals,  fruit, and vegetables. At the centre of the market is an ornate and large  fountain. A fine example of a Victorian post box can also be found within  the Market.

Leave the Market by the opposite side from where you entered and walk down the attractive lane of shops before turning  right to join Hilgrove Street.
Iron gates at the central market

Market gates

Hilgrove Street, with its historic cobbles, is more commonly known a s French Lane as it was where the Breton farmworkers, who came  over to Jersey to work the potato harvest in the late 19th century,  would gather in Town.

Turn left onto Hilgrove Street.

As you pass the rear of the Boots store, notice the Art Deco style  of the building.

Continue to the very end of Hilgrove Street, ignoring the intersections with Bath Street and Hilary Street.

At the very end of the road it turns to the left and becomes Wesley  Street, named after the impressive Wesley Chapel at the end of the
road. This was built in 1875 by the same architects as the Town Hall  and the Royal Court, to replace the original Wesley Chapel of 1827 that  had become unsafe. Following a fire in 2008, the façade was retained  as part of this modern residential development.

Turn left onto Peter Street
Frontage of the Wesley Chapel in St Helier

Wesley Chapel

On the corner is an early Victorian public house dating to 1846, originally  called The Red Lamp. It stands on the corner of Ingouville Place and we  know that a man called George Ingouville owned much of the property  in this area in the 19th century. The streets in the vicinity of the pub –  Ann Street, Charles Street, Hilary Street and Peter Street – are named  after members of his family!

Continue along Peter Street to return to Beresford Street Kitchen for refreshments!

A Victorian Pub

A Victorian Public House

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Walks

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Walk

The Yard Walk

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Places to Visit

Jersey Museum, Art Gallery & Victorian House

In the heart of St Helier you’ll discover the story of Jersey - free entry.

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