The Weighbridge

On the coast

The Weighbridge An early map of St Helier before the land on which the Weighbridge stood had been reclaimed The Weighbridge is one of the most important locations in St Helier. The name has been taken by the whole area to the north of the Old Harbour and New North Quay, where the original public weighbridge formerly stood

A 21st century night view

Liberation Square video

Weighbridge video

This is all reclaimed land, the shoreline of St Helier having previously been over 200 metres to the north on the south wall of the town churchyard. Gradually, from the 18th century onwards, the sea was pushed back, as first warehouses, and then hotels and other properties, were built to the south of the church.

Then construction of St Helier Harbour began in the 19th century, and gradually more and more land was reclaimed - a process which is continuing to this day.

The weighbridge itself was ordered to be constructed in 1825, and, as the island's potato industry developed, for several weeks of every year it was the centre of island life, as farmers brought their crop to St Helier for weighing, packing and then shipping out of the island.

In 1870 the town terminus of the Jersey Western Railway was built; in 1877 a new weighbridge was built in front of the terminus, closer to the harbour and the original building was demolished; in the late 1880s a circular garden was laid out, initially with a tall flagpole in the centre, before it was replaced with a statue of Queen Victoria, which was unveiled in 1890.

The Weighbridge's darkest days were in June 1940, when thousands of islanders queued there awaiting evacuation, and it was later the scene of an aerial attack by German forces, which would shortly occupy the island, after ordering white crosses of surrender to be painted on the Weighbridge and Royal Square.

Five years later, when the island was liberated, the Weighbridge was the scene of great jubilation, as crowds flooded the area to see the Union Flag unfurled on the balcony of the Pomme d'Or Hotel which stands on the edge of the Weighbridge open area.

Today a memorial square with freedom statue has been constructed on this side of the Weigbridge, but the opposite side, in front of the Jersey Museum, where the statue used to stand, and leading towards Commercial Buildings is an open area awaiting redevelopment as a public arena. The statue was moved closer to the old railway terminus, then the tourism centre, in 1970 and its surrounding gardens demolished, to allow the bus station which was then located there to be enlarged. The weighbridge itself also disappeared in 1970. In 1976 the statue was moved to the Triangle Park at West Park.

At first the Old Harbour stretched much further towards the Royal Yacht Hotel but a section was filled in during 1884 to allow the circular garden to be constructed. At this point there was only a narrow stretch of land between the harbour and the garden. In 1928 more of the harbour was filled in to create land for car parking.

Other articles

• The 'island site', the history of the abattoirs and other buildings on the site adjoining the Weighbridge
• Pictorial chronology of the Weighbridge, viewed from Fort Regent

Unveiling ceremony of Queen Victoria statue in 1890

This picture was taken in 1887 by Ernest Baudoux, after the opening of the new weighbridge closer to the harbour than the original structure, which was outside the Southampton Hotel. A circular garden was created on the reclaimed area in 1888, with a tall flagpole at its centre. Then the States decided that they wanted a statue of Queen Victoria in place of the flagpole. That was unveiled in 1890. So it is not true, as often suggested, that the land was reclaimed with a view to creating space for a statue of the Queen. The States did not decide to have a statue until after the reclamation work had been completed. As pictures elsewhere on this page show, the gardens were created a year or two before the statue was erected, with the flagpole in the centre. Whether gardens were always intended for this reclaimed land, with a flagpole intended as a permanent feature, or whether they were constructed after the 1888 decision, with the flagpole a temporary centrepiece, is unclear. This picture shows clearly that the area where the garden would be built was just rough ground in 1887, with unsurfaced but well-worn tracks on the routes followed by potato vans heading for the weighing machines. This had previously been part of the old harbour, the upper part of which was filled in in starting in 1884. Initially the new weighbridge had a single channel so that only one load of potatoes or other produce could be weighed at a time, but increasing demand led to the addition of further weighing arches either side, to treble its capacity on busy days

This picture was taken in about 1900

Dated photographs

Four photographs published in the Jersey Evening Post in 2024 to show how the Weighbridge area has changed over the years

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  1939
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  1940s
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  1970
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  1970

Looking west in 2011 past the underpass

Looking down from Fort Regent on a busy scene on Liberation Day 2012

Click on images below to see larger picture

Work on the building of the new Liberation Square in 1994 and 1995

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  Before work started
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  The weighbridge (left of picture) with town houses and hotels behind in 1860
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  1865
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  1860s
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  1870
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  1870s
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  Carriages in 1875
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  Weighbridge hotels in 1876
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  New weighbridge in 1877 Photographed by Ernest Baudoux. The single central weighing bridge would eventually be joined by two more at either side of the building
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  Potato carts queuing in the early 1880s
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  1880
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  Potato carts queue in 1880
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  An albumen print from the late 1880s
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  A picture by Ernest Baudoux from the early 1880s
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  1883 Picture by Ernest Baudoux
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  Looking down from Fort Regent in about 1880
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  1883
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  c1905
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  Tourism offices 1969
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  Finsbury Hotel in 1969
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  Liberation Square construction in 1995
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  Demolition before the construction of a garage and offices for Jersey Motor Transport in 1960
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  Norman's store at the end of Commercial Buildings in 1990, before the walls were painted yellow
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  Late 19th century
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  1960s

Dates confusion

The dates attributed to pictures of the reclaimed land on which the Weighbridge garden was located can be very misleading. Three of those below were part of a sequence taken by Ernest Baudoux, presumably at the same time as the larger image further up the page. They show the area of land reclaimed from the harbour, the top wall of which was moved several metres down to create the space where the statue of Queen Victoria would be erected in 1890. One of the images is dated 1884, another 1886, and the third, 1890, but they certainly appear to have been taken within a short time of each other, and the date of 1887 attributed to the larger picture above seems most likely. The dates for all pictures taken of this area in the 1880-90s must be seen as approximate, but a definitive date of 28 July 1889 for one of them cannot be accurate because the circular garden is known to have been laid out in 1888, with a flagpole at its centre until the statue was unveiled in 1890

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  1886
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  1885
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  This one is dated 28 July 1889, but that is wrong

This photograph must have been taken before the one below, which is dated about 1886. The upper part of the old harbour has yet to be filled in and the original public weighbridge, which gave the area its name, is still in position alongside the Southampton Hotel. This dates it before 1877. What is intriguing is that the building to the right of the Chase's Royal Yacht Hotel, itself to the right of the Southampton, is identified as Berry's Britannia Hotel. Most photographs of this area show it as 'W T Pugsley, Ship's Chandler' which would seem to push the date of the photograph back into the 1860s, within a decade of the building of the Southampton in 1861, and before the warehouse next to it became part of the Pomme d'Or Hotel

c 1886

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  1884-1890
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  1888
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  1890
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  1890s, from a Victorian slide
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  1893
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  1895
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  1895
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  The gardens in 1895
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  A picture by T Singleton, probably taken in 1895-96
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  1888: The gardens are there, but Queen Victoria's statue has not arrived. In its place is a tall flagpole
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  The Weighbridge gardens before a flagpole was replaced with Queen Victoria's statue
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  1880s
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  1890
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  Unveiling of Queen Victoria statue, 1890
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  The weighbridge in use during the 1895 potato season
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  1890
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  1890 albumen print

Tiny bushes in the garden date this superb quality photograph to shortly after the unveiling of the statue in 1890

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  A ceremonial arch over the Queen Victoria statue for the unveiling in 1890
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  Queen Victoria statue, 1890
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  Looking over the newly erected statue of Queen Victoria towards the Old Harbour in 1890
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  A photograph by Godfray previously dated 1890s. But the familiar granite railway terminus has been built, which means the photograph was taken after 1901
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  1897
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  A picture of the Weighbridge Gardens in 1890
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  A picture by Albert Smith taken before 1900
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  In 1900, when this picture was taken by Albert Smith, the Old Harbour can be seen reaching to within feet of the new Weighbridge Gardens
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  c1886
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  1894
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  A picture of a virtually deserted Weighbridge and Albert Harbour in the very early 1900s. Why were there no ships in harbour?
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  A tinted 19th century slide showing a busy scene
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  1896
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Cars in 1905

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  c1900
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  Hotels in 1900
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  The gardens with mature bushes - an early 20th century photograph
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  1902
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  1903
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  1902
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  The view from the Star Hotel on the corner of Mulcaster Street in the early 1900s
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  A horse and van photographed by Edwin Dale in 1904

1905?

These pictures illustrate the difficulty encountered in trying to date photographs taken more than 100 years ago. They were all received dated 'circa 1905'. That date might be accurate for the pictures on the left and below, but the one on the right was taken much earlier, long before the frontage of the railway terminus had been replaced by the granite building which subsequently became the island's Tourism office, and still stands today. An investigation of the dates of various pictures of the Weighbridge elsewhere in this website put a date of 1879 on the centre picture

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  1906
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  1906
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  A 1906 photograph by Albert Smith
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  An Albert Smith photograph from 1906
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  1907
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  The Weighbridge in 1907
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  A picture of the Weighbridge in 1907 by Philip Morel-Laurens
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  The 1907 potato season at its height
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  1908
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  1908
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  Photograph by Edwin Dale
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  1910
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  1910s
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  LL postcard
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  LL postcard

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  LL postcard
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  The Weighbridge in the 1910s
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  The Weighbridge in 1913
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  1921
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  1922
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  The Weighbridge shortly before the top end of the Old Harbour was filled in during 1928
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  1928
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  1930s
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  1930s
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  The Weighbridge viewed from the bottom of Conway Street in the early 1930s
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  The weighbridge in 1937
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  1937 Evening Post picture
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Potato lorries in 1939 ...

... and in 1961

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  The Pomme d'Or Hotel under construction in 1938 - Evening Post picture
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  1939 or early 1940
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  A small queue of potato lorries at the Weighbridge in 1940, probably taken just before the German invasion
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  November 1940
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  The bus station in the very early weeks of the Occupation
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  The Pomme d'Or and Southampton Hotels in 1941
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  1941
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  1942
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  12 May 1945
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  12 May 1945
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  Liberation Day, 9 May 1945
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  Potato lorries queuing at the weighbridge in the late 1940s
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  1948
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  1948
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  A 1950 view
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  1950s
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  Looking down on the Weighbridge with the Esplanade beyond, in the 1950s
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  A 1950s Tuck postcard
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  1950s
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  The 1950s
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  Queen Victoria's statue and surrounding gardens in 1953
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  Lorries queuing with tomatoes for export

Early 1972

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  1953 and buses are parked on the far side of the Weighbridge Gardens in this Evening Post picture
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  1955
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  A BEA airport coach outside the Weighbridge terminal in 1955
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  A Jersey Airlines airport coach outside the Weighbridge terminal in 1955
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  A car rally departs from the Weighbridge at Easter 1958
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  1960s
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  1960s
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  The 1960s
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  This postcard from a 1960s photograph was still on sale in 1985
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  The Tourism office in the 1960s
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  The Star Hotel in 1961
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  The high tide floods over the harbour edge in 1962
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  The Weighbridge at night in 1963
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  The Weighbridge in 1964
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  1964
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  1965
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  A 1967 photograph by Robin Webster
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  1967
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  1967
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  1968
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  Queuing for a bus in the 1960s

Buses dominate the scene in the 1990s

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  1969
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  1969
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  1969
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  1969
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  Although published in a 1975 magazine, this photograph is several years older. It was clearly taken before the opening of The Tunnel in 1970
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  1970
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  1970s
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  The 1970s
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  Buses crowd the Weighbridge during a strike in the 1970s
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  The statue of Queen Victoria moved from its original position in the centre of the circular gardens to a temporary location in front of the Tourism offices in the former railway terminus, before another move to West Park
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  Dismantling the statue and plinth in November 1972
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  The late 1970s saw Queen Victoria's statue and surrounding gardens make way for more bus parking
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  The statue in 1973, after its first move
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  Weighbridge 1982
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  A 1984 Jersey Evening Post aerial view of the Weighbridge, showing the whole area given over to buses, parking and a container park
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  1984
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  1989
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  Liberation Square, created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation
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  Liberation Square
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  55th anniversary celebrations in Liberation Square in May 2000
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  The Weighbridge area in 2012
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  1970
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  1970, and the weighbridge itself is demolished
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  1973
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  Snow covers the Weighbridge in the late 1970s or early '80s
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  1978 - Jersey Evening Post photograph
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  1978 - Jersey Evening Post photograph
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  1980 - Jersey Evening Post photograph
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  1980 - Jersey Evening Post photograph
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  1982

Potato exports

Horses and carts at the Weighbridge

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  Horse-drawn carts with barrels of potatoes queue for their turn on the public weighbridge
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  A queue of potato carts
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  Potato carts
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  Potato carts
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  An earlier photograph attributed to Edwin Dale showing farmer's vans laden with potatoes waiting to use the weighbridge. He cannot have been the photographer, because it has to have been taken before 1877 and he was not born until 1882
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  A lorry using the weighbridge
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  Potatoes awaiting export

Sundry photographs not yet dated

Click on an image below to see larger picture

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  A crowd gathers round men with penny farthing bicycles outside the Southampton Hotel
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  19th century view
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  The new weighbridge had a single bay when first built
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  Two bays added to the sides of the new weighbridge
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  Caledonia Place hotels behind the gardens
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  A picture by Edwin Dale
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  Carriages for hire queue around the gardens

A light covering of snow across the Weighbridge

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  Carriages in Victorian times
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  Sailing ships line both sides of the New North Quay
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  Weighbridge Gardens, sometimes known as Queen's Gardens or Victoria Gardens after the statue of Queen Victoria
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  The weighbridge with the top of the New North Quay and the Albert Harbour beyond and the Albert Pier in the background
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  Looking down on the Weighbridge from Fort Regent. The land in the left foreground was created by infilling the top of the Old Harbour
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  Weighbridge Gardens with the statue of Queen Victoria, and warehouses on the New North Quay (now the Maritime Museum and Occupation Tapestry Gallery) in the background
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  The early 20th century
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  Edwardian modes of transport with the Royal Yacht Hotel in the background
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  Looking down on the gardens
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  Weighbridge Gardens
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  Late 19th century
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  Militiamen at the Weighbridge, opposite the junction of the Esplanade and Conway Street

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  Queen Victoria's statue in Weighbridge Gardens
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  A steam clock has been built on the infilled area at the end of the Old Harbour
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  Buses occupied much of the Weighbridge for the second half of the 20th century
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  Liberation Day crowds
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  The Weighbridge Gardens and Queen Victoria statue, overlooked by Fort Regent
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  An Ernest Baudoux photograph including the Southampton and Royal Yacht Hotels and shipbroker W T Pugsley
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  Picture of the weighbridge by Albert Smith
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  Picture of the weighbridge by Albert Smith
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  Picture by T Singleton
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  Picture by Ernest Baudoux
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  Picture by Ernest Baudoux
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  The drag hunt used to meet at the Weighbridge, as shown in this Albert Smith photograph
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  An Ernest Baudoux photograph showing Shaw's Navy, Adderson's Star and Royal Yacht Hotels and the new sailors' home
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  Picture by Ernest Baudoux
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  Picture by Ernest Baudoux

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  The Royal Yacht Hotel
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  The Weighbridge Gardens before the statue of Queen Victoria was erected in 1895
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  Cars parked on an area created by infilling the top of the Old Harbour in the 1930s
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  Post-war car and bus parking. Note that there are no road markings
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  An advert for the Southampton Hotel offers rooms from 6s 6d to 7s 6d a day
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  Sailing vessels pack both sides of the New North Quay for this Ernest Baudoux photograph
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  A picture by Edwin Dale of a family group in the Weighbridge Gardens
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  Picture of the gardens by Albert Smith
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  Picture by Albert Smith
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  A postcard by H G Allix of the gardens
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  A view of the front of the Pomme d'Or and Southampton Hotels on an H G Allix postcard
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  A View from Fort Regent
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Weighbridge hotels

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  Weighbridge Gardens
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  Liberation Square
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The St Helier terminus of the Jersey Western Railway

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  The drag hunt meets at the Weighbridge
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  An aerial view
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  The Southampton Hotel
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  Weighbridge receipt
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  Albert Smith picture
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  A policeman directing traffic at the Weighbridge
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  The Weighbridge photographed by Singleton
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  Weighbridge
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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux
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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux
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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux
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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux

Passing through the weighbridge

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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux
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  Photograph by Ernest Baudoux
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  Hotels
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  An early postcard
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  An albumen print
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The original weighbridge photographed by Philip Godfray in the 1870s

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  Hill Street in the foreground
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  Looking down on the row of hotels, Southampton on the left
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  The view today
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  Charabancs at the Weighbridge
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  The gardens
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  Photograph by Philip Godfray
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  A policeman on point duty
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  The old Weighbridge, a painting by Philip Henry Poore
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  This postcard was sent to a relative by 'Jack' who had a holiday job in the offices behind the weighbridge
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LL postcard

1910s

Contrast this with the picture above