List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary

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A decision made (15/10/2007) regarding: List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary – Notice of Intention to List.

Decision Reference: MD–PE–2007-0235
Decision Summary Title :	DS - List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary – Notice of Intention to List		Date of Decision Summary:	11 October 2007
Decision Summary Author:	Kevin Pilley Assistant Director: Policy and Projects		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report:	Written and oral		Person Giving Oral Report:	Kevin Pilley Assistant Director
Written Report Title :	WR - List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary – Notice of Intention to List		Date of Written Report:	21 August 2007
Written Report Author:	Kevin Pilley Assistant Director: Policy and Projects		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary – Notice of Intention to List
Decision(s): The Minister for Planning and Environment determined that; A notice of Intention to List as a Site of Special Interest, as individual properties on the List, without inclusion of the highway that separates them, the Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter (PE0249) and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary (MY0001), shall be served on the owner/s of the sites.
Reason(s) for decision: The special interest of Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary as defined and assessed relative to the published criteria for selection, justifies their inclusion, as separate entities, inclusion on the List of Sites of Special Interest in accordance with the provisions and purposes of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 and; It is not considered appropriate to include the highway within the designation; The proposal accords with the States Strategic Plan commitment of protecting and sympathetically managing the Island’s built heritage assets.
Resource implications: If confirmed, the special interest of these sites would impose additional control upon activities which could be undertaken requiring greater regulation and the provision of special advice.
Action required: The Notices of Intention is to be served in accordance wit the requirements of the Law; No sooner than 28 days after the date of the service of the Notices of Intention to List a further report shall be brought to the Minister relative to any representations received.
Signature:		Position: Assistant Minister for Planning and Environment
Date signed		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed): 28 September 2007

List of Sites of Special Interest: Church of St Matthew, La Rue de la Ville au Bas, St Peter and St Matthew’s Convent, Rue Bechervaise, St Mary – Notice of Intention to List.

List of Sites of Special Interest

Review of St. Matthew’s Church and Convent

This report has been prepared by the Jersey Heritage Trust as part of its responsibility under a Service Level Agreement to provide reports and recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Environment on the registration of historic buildings and sites.

Author of report: Roger Hills BA(Hons) MA DipBldgCons (RICS) IHBC Curator of Historic Buildings

Date of report: 21 August 2007

File ref: PE0249 & MY0001

Relevant interests of the site (see schedule for detail)

St. Matthew’s Church was included in the first historic buildings register, published in August 1992. The pSSI registration was amended to include the presbytery and the former school building following a decision by the Minister for Planning and Environment on 7 July 2006.

St Matthew’s Convent was added to the historic buildings register as a pSSI by the Jersey Building Heritage Sub-Committee on 20 September 1999.

The Roman Catholic complex of St. Matthew’s Church and Convent is considered to be of special architectural, historical and artistic interest.

Imposing granite church of 1872, in French thirteenth century Gothic Revival style with handsome vaulted interior and west tribune gallery. The church forms the centrepiece of an important group of historic buildings - presbytery, school, convent and burial ground. The complex straddles the parish boundary of St Peter and St Mary and was built to serve the needs of the scattered population of French Catholics on the west side of the Island.

Advice received (MRLAG or others)

The Architectural History Practice Limited – funded by English Heritage and the RC diocese of Portsmouth – published a report on St. Matthew’s Church and Convent in March 2007. The report supports the designation as an SSI and concludes that the church in UK terms would be, “a clear candidate for listing in grade II”

The special interest of the building was considered by MRLAG at its meeting on 13 August 2007. Members unanimously concurred with the prepared SSI schedule and plan.

JHT recommendation

The church and convent - together with the presbytery, school and burial ground - form an important and complete group of historic buildings all integral to the Roman Catholic mission on this site.

It is recommended that the Minister for Planning and Environment:

confirm the intention to List St. Matthew’s Church and Convent, as defined in the attached schedule, as a Site of Special Interest under the provisions of Article 51(2)(b) Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 by virtue of its special interest as described in the same schedule;

approve the serving of the Intention to List Notice in accord with the requirements of the Law

Justification relating to criteria

The special interest of St. Matthew’s Church and Convent, as defined and assessed relative to the published criteria for selection, justifies its inclusion on the List of Sites of Special Interest in accordance with the provisions and purposes of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002.

Attachments

The Architectural History Practice Limited report, March 2007
SSI schedule & plan
Photographs

Board of Trustees

Chairman: Jurat John de Veulle OBE Vice-Chairman: Philip Le Brocq

Rowland Anthony, Geoffrey Crill, Connétable Simon Crowcroft, Blair Gould, Clive Jones, Deputy Carolyn Labey, Paul Nicolle, Jane Stubbs,

Jonathan Voak