Bars, cafes and restaurants

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Bars, cafes and restaurants


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Bars advertised in 1960


Jersey has many inns and taverns with long histories. A number started life as hotels but have long since stopped taking guests. There was usually at least one adjacent to or in the immediate neighbourhood of the parish churches, and those who had to
travel a long distance on foot for morning service on Sundays
would sit out the day in the closest inn until it was time for the
second service of the day, before heading home in the dark

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Famous Jersey inns in the 1950s

Cognoscenti and literati

The hotels, inns and taverns were in many ways important centres of the community over many years. In his 1970s book The Historical Hotels and Inns of Jersey, historian Philip Ahier wrote:

"The importance of the tavern in the days when there were no halls or assembly rooms is shown in the fact that it was the focus of the 'light and learning' of the community - a venue where the cognoscenti and literati of the locality met to discuss the problems of the time. Thus, in 1835, there was a 'Hodge Podge Club' which met at the Crown and Punch Bowl at Havre des Pas. This was a sort of Rotary Club at which matters 'historical, philosophical and anecdotal' were related and debated upon. There was, too, in the parish of St Ouen in the late sixties of the 19th century, a literary movement which met at various taverns in that parish and at which lectures on similar subjects were delivered. It is also interesting to note that two island Manorial Courts were held at inns in 18th and even in 19th century days; those of the fiefs of Noirmont and of Anneville, Everat and Lempiere at St Martin, in particular."

Stage-coaches

As was common elsewhere, the inns and taverns in the country parishes were often starting points for stage-coach services to town, and in later years buses to the east of the island started their journey from the Exeter in Queen Street, while services to the west started from the Red Lion in Halkett Place.

1834 guide

The Historical and Descriptive Guide of the Channel Islands of 1834 reveals that there were 98 hotels, inns and taverns in St Helier alone at that time, four of which still remain - the Caesarea in Cattle Street, the Cock and Bottle (for a time the Cosy Corner) and the Royal Square Inn (now the Peirson) in the Royal Square, and Lido's, in Market Street, which was previously the Clarendon Hotel and, in 1834, the Old Kent Coffee House. At the time some taverns were less reputable than others. Some in St Helier, described as 'disorderly houses', allegedly harboured prostitutes, said Philip Ahier, who recalled that payment of the required licence fee enabled anyone to open a tavern. Those in Hilgrove Lane and Pier Road were among the most notorious, and the Red Lamp in Peter Street, which opened in 1844 and closed recently, he describes as openly advertising its original purpose.

Individual histories

Brasford's, Victoria Avenue Daly's Aurora Hotel Bond Hotel
Caesarea Carrefour Selous Hotel Clarendon Hotel Cock and Bottle
The Eastern The Exeter Harvest Barn Le Moulin de Lecq
La Folie Inn La Pulente Hotel L'Auberge du Nord Lillie Langtry Bar
Mermaid Tavern The Peirson The Post Horn Prince's Hotel
Prince of Wales Tavern Priory, Devil's Hole Prince's Tower Hotel Priory, St Clement
Red Lamp Red Lion Robin Hood Hotel Southampton Hotel
Taunton Inn, Gorey Wellington Hotel White Horse Windmill, St Peter
The Watersplash Wolf Caves

Reference

Philip Ahier and W S Ashworth The Historical Hotels and Inns of Jersey

Le Singe Raye

Le Singe Raye was a popular night club in the 1930s, also known by the English translation 'The Striped Monkey'. Situated behind the Pomme d'Or Hotel between Wharf Street and Bond Street, it had something of an unsavoury reputation. It was said by those who used to go there that 'the best entertainment was to be had on the first floor'. Not the sort of establishment which those who went there would approve of their teenage grandchildren frequenting today, perhaps!

Picture gallery of miscellaneous establishments

At the beginning of the 20th century ABC Tearooms, 'The Noted House for Pound Cake', had branches in St Helier at Bath Street, Cattle Street, and this one at 39 Broad Street

Click on image to see larger picture

Apple Cottage at Rozel in 1950. Vanessa Le Blond recalls happy memories of living there: 'My parents owned it from 1962-1967. I loved living there and was sad to leave. They bought it from the Mason family, he was a retired Beefeater. I believe it belonged before that for some time to a lady called Fairy Robinson or Robson. She lived over the road from the cottage when we lived there. It became well known for the Sunday curry lunches my parents served during the winter months. Bert Taylor ran the Rozel Bay pub and Charles and Molly Sharp owned Le Couperon hotel and restaurant. Ces Dorey, the fisherman lived in the bungalow as you go up to the bus terminus and Knights Cafe was where the Navigator was later. On the Breque du Nord leading to the harbour, there was a little newsagent run by a Mrs Benest, where I went to spend my pocket money on sweets'
This picture, taken in 1906, was believed to be Apple Cottage, but has now been positively identified as Rosa Cottage in Vallee des Vaux, resplendant with a thatched roof and 'eyebrow' window
Chateau Plaisir in 1962
The Baths, on the seafront at St Luke's
Cote du Nord interior in 1950
Devil's Hole Pavilion from the north
The Exeter, Queen Street
Hunt's Tearoom on the shore at Gorey adjacent to what is now Gorey Common Car Park
Smuggler's Inn 1963
Paris Plage, Anne Port
Pop's Cafe, Havre des Pas
Tams, St Brelade's Bay
Single's Tearooms, Gorey Pier
The Watersplash dance floor4
Sorel Pavilion was run by Henry Picot after the Second World War and later sold by the States to C Le Masurier for £5,000
A carriage outing to the north coast pauses for refreshments at the Victoria Hotel in St Peter's Valley on the return journey in 1913
The bar of the Swan Hotel
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