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Bringing to life the best of the past
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This week, however, the trust invited the Bailiff, Michael Birt, to officially open the doors of a St Helier building that has not only been carefully restored, but has also been furnished with fixtures and fittings appropriate to the age in which it was first occupied.
The building is 16 New Street, which is a fine and elegant example of a Georgian town house that can now be regarded as a symbol of all that the trust stands for – deep respect for Island heritage, the preservation of the tangible reminders of that heritage, and consummate craftsmanship.
An impression of the care taken during the trust’s eight-year project to renovate, decorate and furnish the New Street house is afforded by the pictures published on the centre spread of today’s JEP. It would, however, be true to say that the care with which a small team of trust craftsmen and its chief executive, Charles Alluto, have attended to every detail of the reconstruction can be appreciated only by visiting the property. The same can be said of the way in which period furniture and fittings have been painstakingly acquired and installed to lend maximum authenticity to the restoration.
The work, meanwhile, stands in sharp and refreshing contrast to the more general tendency to pull down the old and to replace it with the new. This often makes economic sense, but too often pursuit of profit plays a part in destroying the character of our built-up areas and too many parts of the countryside. All too often we see vernacular materials such as granite replaced by concrete and glass.
The modernisation and occasional despoliation of St Helier and other parts of the Island will no doubt continue, but as long as the National Trust for Jersey exists and receives community support, we can be confident that much of what is finest in terms of history and heritage will be saved for future generations.
Moreover, the New Street project confirms that the organisation is no mere passive accepter of gifts and bequests. It is active and effective in making the best of the past come to life.
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