St Matthew’s Convent, a large and imposing building on Rue Berchervais, just inside the parish of St Mary, has remained largely empty for years.
However, developer Edward Moore, the director of Equipe Property Holdings, has now submitted an application to transform the former school and associated charity shop into five two-bed apartments and two two-bed semi-detached units.
- St Matthews Convent is one of several Roman Catholic buildings in the area which served Jerseys French Catholic population in the west of the Island more than a century ago.
- Built in 1884, the convent was created for the Sisters of Saint André.
- Archivist Stuart Nicolle said that the area began to thrive when the Dames de St André bought land opposite St Matthews Roman Catholic Church and built the convent there in the mid-1880s.
- St Matthews Convent School continued until 1950, Mr Nicolle said.When it was realised that the remoteness of the location was not conducive to its continued success, the school was moved to its now familiar position of Beaulieu Convent School.
Under the scheme the building – the original home of what is now Beaulieu Convent School – is due to be converted to preserve or restore original features at the property, which was built in 1884.
It sits in the protected green zone and is a Grade 2 listed building, meaning that it has further protection as part of the Island’s register of historic properties.
In a report on the scheme’s impact on heritage, project designers Waddington Architects added: ‘The clients are passionate about retaining St Matthew’s Convent’s heritage character and they have no intention to unnecessarily harm any of the historic character.
‘They wish to go a step further and reinstate, where practical, the stained glass panes and stone balustrading that they believe have been stored in the building.’
A series of minor changes have been approved at the site since the mid-1980s.
Various change of use applications to use part of the property as a joinery workshop, upholsterer’s and garden products workshop have all been previously approved.
A 1995 application to create a recording studio was withdrawn and major plans to create 17 apartments at the site in 2003 went undetermined.
In that same year a change of use to allow the creation of a charity shop was approved.
Under the latest plans around £12,000 would be put towards Planning’s Percentage for Art scheme, which requires large-scale developments to fund artwork in public places.
In this case that money would go towards landscaping work at the property.
