A CONSERVATION PLAN for MONT ORGUEIL, JERSEY Prepared for the MAY 2008 A CONSERVATION PLAN for MONT ORGUEIL, JERSEY CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………. 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………….. 4 PART ONE : SIGNIFICANCE 1.0 UNDERSTANDING THE SITE ……………………………. 19 1.0.1 Geology and Topography ……………………... 19 1.0.2 Archaeology …………………………………….. 30 1.0.3 Medieval castle (circa 1204-circa 1470) …….. 36 1.0.4 Artillery fortress (circa 1470-1593) ……………. 50 1.0.5 Administrative centre, prison and part-time residence (1593-1680) ………………………… 63 1.0.6 Military garrison (1680-1907) …………………. 72 1.0.7 Historic monument (1907-2007) ……………… 85 1.0.8 Description and gazetteer ……………………. 102 Keep …………………………………………. 105 Middle Ward …………………………………. 166 Lower Ward ………………………………….. 214 Outer Ward ………………………………….. 248 1.0.9 Ecology ………………………………………… 278 1.0.10 Uses ……………………………………………. 282 1.1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ………………………………….. 290 1.2 ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE ………………………. 295 1.2.1 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE ……………… 297 1.2.2 ASSESSMENT OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS … 298 PART TWO : CONSERVATION POLICY 2.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………….. 301 2.2 VULNERABILITY …………………………………………….. 302 2.3 ISSUES ………………………………………………………... 304 2.4 CONSERVATION PLAN POLICIES ………………………… 307 2.5 IMPLEMENTATION AND REVIEW ………………………… 323 SUPPORTING INFORMATION References and bibliography Appendix 1 : Archival sources in the Jersey Archives Appendix 2 : Archival sources in the library of the Société Jersiaise Prepared for the JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST MAY 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _______________________________________________________________ he subject of the Conservation Plan is the castle of Mont Orgueil, Tfirst erected shortly after 1204 AD on a promontory of natural granite, previously occupied by an Iron Age hillfort and where evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupation and some Roman coins have been found. The castle was extended and refurbished on several occasions, and then in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was substantially refortified as an artillery fortress. It remained the principal fortification on the island of Jersey and seat of the Governor, providing shelter for a range of public and domestic buildings, until the late 1590s when its role was partially replaced by Elizabeth Castle, at St Helier. It was subsequently used as a military garrison into the nineteenth century and then fell into disrepair. By 1907, when ownership was transferred from the Crown to the States of Jersey, it had become a historic monument open to the public and, with only the German occupation intervening in the 1940s, it has served as a heritage asset and tourist attraction to the present day. Mont Orgueil has been the subject of numerous schemes of repair and restoration in the past and, following the transfer of its management to the Jersey Heritage Trust in January 1997, a major programme of investigation and refurbishment, costing £4.45m, was completed in April 2006. This included the provision of roofing and floors to the Tudor keep; improved access and interpretation; and the positioning of some thirty pieces of commissioned artwork and sculpture, all inspired by the castle, in and around the buildings. Whilst these latest improvements are seen as providing an immediate sustainable future for the property, following years of decline, the Jersey Heritage Trust recognises that there are still some areas of the castle that are in need of repair and presentation. It is also aware that changes in tourism patterns to Mont Orgueil and to Jersey in general could adversely affect the number of paying visitors to the site and hence its long term ability to survive as a sustainable heritage asset. Although it has no immediate plans to undertake any further refurbishment works, other than general maintenance, the Jersey Heritage Trust recognises that they may be desirable in the not too distant future in order to improve access to the site and to provide facilities for the widest possible range of compatible uses, and thereby maintain, and if possible increase, visitor numbers to ensure that it remains a sustainable heritage asset to the people of Jersey and visitors to the island. In advance of any new proposals for the castle, the Trust has commissioned this Conservation Plan in order to inform and advise future decisions concerning its alteration and use. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________1 Mont Orgueil Conservation Plan : Executive Summary JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST The document adheres to the principles adopted in the United Kingdom for the production of Conservation Plans by the Heritage Lottery Fund and statutory authorities, and firstly identifies the various natural and man-made elements which comprise the property known as Mont Orgueil and sets out what is significant about them (Part One). For the purposes of this document, significance is defined as the wide- ranging values that local people and visitors to the island of Jersey place on Mont Orgueil as a heritage asset. The Conservation Plan establishes that Mont Orgueil is of outstanding significance : as a fortification which played an important role in the changing political and strategic military history of the island over a period of 700 years; as a place designated by the States of Jersey as a Site of Special Interest; as an area of special architectural, historic, and landscape value whose appearance is given a high priority in the 2002 Island Plan by its inclusion in a candidate list of only four places with a potential for designation as a Conservation Area; as being built on a locally unique outcrop of dark red granite containing intruded seams of other igneous rocks, which are of geological interest; as containing evidence for settlement in the Iron Age and finds which indicate occupation in the vicinity in the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Roman periods, providing a resource for archaeological research; as providing buried and visible historical evidence of changing circumstances and conditions of the castle, providing a unique resource for archaeological and architectural history research which complements written sources; as a wildlife habitat, particularly for the wall lizard and a range of flora and fauna, including several nationally endangered and nationally rare species; as a resource for education of people of all ages on a wide range of subjects, but including geology, history, architecture and ecology; as a resource for informal recreation and leisure, and an icon for Jersey tourism; as a resource for inspiration, particularly painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography; as a resource for celebration and nostalgia; and as a resource for entertainment and ceremony. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 Mont Orgueil Conservation Plan : Executive Summary JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST The Conservation Plan then suggests the ways in which these values may be vulnerable to change and indicates what policies are appropriate to enable that significance to be retained in its future use and development (Part Two). The Conservation Plan is intended to assist in the management of change at Mont Orgueil. The policies contained within it have been adopted by the Jersey Heritage Trust. They will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure compliance with changing circumstances or approaches to conservation and presentation, and they will be applied when new maintenance or management proposals are being considered. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 Mont Orgueil Conservation Plan : Executive Summary JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________________________ he castle of Mont Orgueil is located at the east end of the island of TJersey, between Gorey Harbour, to the south, and a small bay known as Petit Portelet, to the north, and directly facing the coast of France, some 25 kilometres (18 miles) to the east. Satellite photographs, identifying the location of Mont Orgueil (circled). (below) Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:5000 of 1934, showing the location of Mont Orgueil castle and Mont Saint Nicolas. Note that the contours are in feet and that the extract is not reproduced to scale. Mont Saint Nicolas MONT ORGUEIL CASTLE __________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 Mont Orgueil Conservation Plan : Introduction JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST The castle occupies a prominent outcrop of red granite which is partially overlooked on its north-west side by the end of a ridge of higher ground, known as Mont Saint Nicolas. Mont Orgueil and Gorey Harbour, looking down from a point on the ridge west of Mont Saint Nicolas. Aerial view of Mont Orgueil, from the east. The earliest finds from the site are Palaeolithic and Neolithic flint implements and pieces of Neolithic pottery, which may indicate occupation on the rocky headland or in its vicinity at a very early date. Excavations within the castle in the 1970s revealed the remains of a rampart which cut of the neck of land leading to the highest ground to form an Iron Age promontory fort belonging to the first millennium BC. At least six Roman coins, dating to between AD72 and 307, have been found either in or near the castle and these suggest activity in the area at that time, though no structures of this period have yet been found on the site or in the locality.