02 December 2008
The fortifications of the Channel Islands have the potential to be recognised as a world heritage site, according to a report published by the Education, Sport and Culture Department.
Its author Kate Clark, formerly of English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund, says that a bid featuring key heritage sites in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney could be successful if the Channel Islands worked together to capitalise on more than 800 years of military history.
She also recommends research into what makes Jersey special in a bid to gather information about the wider value of heritage to the Island.
“The fortifications as a group have the potential in terms of density of remains, the diversity of different military site types and the long time-span that they represent. Some are also in outstanding coastal locations,” the report says.
Deputy Carolyn Labey, ESC’s Assistant Minister with responsibility for culture, warmly welcomed the conclusions of Kate Clark’s report but urged some caution with regard to the World Heritage convention.
“The report is excellent news so far as confirming the enormous potential of our heritage but it is also realistic about the challenges for anyone contemplating advancing a bid for recognition as a world heritage site.
“We must acknowledge that it is a lengthy process even to get to the preliminary stage, that the costs have to be investigated fully, and that it would require the same interest across the islands as a whole to have the chance of success.
“What we now need to do is to establish whether there is that interest, particularly from the voluntary sector which would play a key role, and establish exactly what it would entail from a practical perspective”, she said.
Deputy Labey added that it would also be important to be aware of the outcome of the forthcoming consultation on the issue of World Heritage site applications which had been launched by the DCMS in the UK.
Kate Clark’s report was commissioned jointly by ESC and Planning and Environment following work undertaken in Jersey by the Société Jersiaise. It was produced with the support and involvement of the Société, Jersey Heritage and the Jersey branch of the Channel Islands Occupation Society.
Kate Clark, who has recently taken up an appointment as director of the Historic Houses Trust in Australia, is an expert in heritage management. In addition to English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund, she has also worked for Ironbridge Gorge Museum, the University of Birmingham, and the Council for British Archaeology, and collaborated with a wide range of heritage groups in Hungary, South Africa, Australia, the United States and Canada.
Earlier this year she was one of the keynote speakers in the first Council for Culture conference held in Jersey.
Ends.
Note to editors: for further information contact
Deputy Carolyn Labey
Tel.: 852488
Mobile 07797713140
email c.labey@gov.je
gov.je