Cheapside

Cheapside

Arch erected for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Photograph: Albert Smith

Cheapside is one of the western gateways to St Helier. Developed for housing in the 19th century, it was previously an area of sand dunes beyond the Parade

Sand dunes

Cheapside's position on the edge of the town made it a logical place to erect ceremonial arches on important occasions, and two of these were the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, and the Coronation of her grandson, George V, in 1911.

There are some fine Victorian houses in the area, little changed since the day they were built, but these are largely around the corner from Cheapside itself, along West Park Avenue and St John's Road, which adjoin it at its western end.

Today Cheapside extends from the junction with Kensington Place, Elizabeth Place and the Parade westwards to the foot of St John's Road. It used to continue around the corner but that is now the start of Peirson Road, which continues down to the Esplanade alongside the Grand Hotel. Before Peirson Road was named in honour of the hero of the Battle of Jersey in the 19th century, the road was known as Cheapside as far as the coast

On the 1843 Le Gros map, Cheapside turns the corner and runs down to the coast at West Park, but there were only a handful of properties at the upper end and below them there were still sand dunes. What is now New St John's Road was known as York Place, and West Park Avenue and Parade Place did not exist. There were gardens and meadows between Cheapside and Roussel Street. There was very little development on either side of Rouge Bouillon, then known as William Place

Two street name boards show where Peirson Road took over from Cheapside

Listed buildings

Although many of the buildings in Cheapside appear to be of similar vintage and maintained in close to original condition, only three properties are listed and included in the Historic Environment Record website.

No 1-3	No 4	No 21-23

Gallery

Of this row of buildings of similar construction and age, only one, No4, which is the dark two-storey property one from the right, is a listed building

Click on any picture to see a full-size version

• 
• 
• 
• 
  1958
• 
  1958
• 
  1958
• 
  The Old England Hotel in Cheapside
• 
  West Park Avenue
• 
  The staff outside H N Picot's grocery shop at Cheapside in about 1910
• 
  Another arch at Cheapside in 1911 for the Coronation of King George V
• 
  A horse-drawn charabanc outside the Old England Hotel at Cheapside
• 
  Post office and chemist
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
  1968
• 
• 
  No 4
• 
  Nos 21-23
• 
  Another picture of the ceremonial archway at Cheapside for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee
• 
  1967
• 
  Early 20th century photograph by Edwin Dale

Old St John's Road junction

The junction of Cheapside, West Park Avenue and New St John's Road, before the Great War, in the latter part of the 20th century and today. The shop was an outlet for the bakery of Herbert Albert Freeman, who was in business at 1-5 New St John's Road from before the Second World War until 1960

• 
  Photograph by Edwin Dale
• 
• 
• 

Businesses

An early 20th century advert for West End Stores. Few Jersey businesses would now boast about charging London store prices

• 
  Simpson's chair and cabinet depot announced its opening at 9 Cheapside in an 1840 advertisement
• 
  1913
• 
• 
  1857
• 
  1859
• 
  1860
• 
  1915
• 
  1948
• 
  1948
• 
  1948
• 
  1881 advert
• 
  1873 advert
• 
  1927
• 
  1887 advert from L'Almanach de la Gazette de Jersey
• 
  1896
• 
  1913

The grocery store founded by George Bisson ...

... and how the building looked decades later, changed very little