JERSEY Heritage is recommending that the Victoria Marine Lake in St Aubin’s Bay be awarded Grade 4 listed status, it has emerged.
Deputy Inna Gardiner, who has been supporting a group of Islanders and constituents keen to restore the 128-year-old pool, told the JEP that Jersey Heritage had forwarded an assessment to Jersey Property Holdings this month.
In a 30-page ‘Historic Environment Asset Report’ seen by this newspaper, the cultural organisation has come to its recommendation in order to protect the site’s “historic and cultural significance”.
The report highlighted that listing it would recognise the sea pool’s “role in Victorian seaside leisure”, “its engineering achievement for the time” and “its contribution to St Helier’s identity and community memory”, according to Jersey Heritage.
A final decision on whether the pool is officially granted listed status is expected in early October.
It will come as welcome news for a 360-strong campaign group rallying to see the attraction restored.
The site has seen public investment in recent years, at a cost of £315,000 between 2012 and 2014, but was later damaged during storms and has fallen into disrepair.
Due to further storm and tidal damage, the sluice gates of the VML have not been closed since 2023, meaning the pool is unusable at low tide.
Despite the listed recommendation, any hopes of full repair remain distant. Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan previously raised concerns of whether any more work on the site would represent “value for the taxpayer”, and pointed to major plans to regenerate the Waterfront instead.
A public meeting to discuss the future of the Victoria Marine Lake with Deputy Jehan, is set to take place next week.
Islanders should note the date has moved to Thursday 4 September and will be held at 5pm at the Old Magistrate’s Court in the Town Hall.
Did you know?
The Victoria Marine Lake was built in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee
It was once the largest sea pool in the British Isles
The pool is also one of the few surviving Victorian tidal pools anywhere, and one of only two left in Jersey
