Saumarez Park

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The Saumarez Park is the largest public park on the island of Guernsey , the second largest of the Channel Islands .

The park

The approximately 65 hectare park is located in the municipality of Castel , about 4 kilometers northwest of the center of Saint Peter Port . It is popular with young and old alike and contains, in addition to the Folk & Costume Museum operated by the National Trust of Guernsey, spacious grassy areas for playing ball and picnicking , a duck pond , a large children's playground and a café. A nature trail connects the park with Cobo Bay on the north coast of the island.

history

The park is a creation of Baron James Saumarez (1843–1937), grandson of Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (1757–1836), who bought the estate in 1869 from his father. By marrying Martha Le Marchant in 1788, his grandfather came into possession of the estate and the manor house there, but his two older sons, James St Vincent (1789–1863) and succeeding him as 2nd and 3rd Baron de Saumarez, and John St Vincent (1806-1891) lived in England and cared little about the property. When the latter wanted to sell the property, his son, who was stationed in the diplomatic service of the British Crown abroad, succeeded in inheriting the property with the help of his uncle and citing the “droit de retraite” (right of redemption) ) in Guernsey real estate law, to be acquired by purchase. On December 30, 1869, 22 years before he followed his father as 4th Baron de Saumarez in the Peerage , he became the owner of Saumarez Park.

From this point in time until almost the end of his life, Saumarez expanded and improved the park, which eventually reached an area of ​​400 Vergées or around 65 hectares. He laid out various gardens (bamboo path, Japanese garden, rose garden, camelia park, walled garden) and had a (no longer used) Japanese temple and a Japanese house in Japan dismantled and rebuilt in his park. He also had the manor house expanded. The two Japanese buildings suffered during the German occupation of the island from 1940 to 1945 and fell victim to local vandalism after the war .

Saumarez Park Manor

After the death of James St Vincent Saumarez, 4th Baron de Saumarez, the States of Guernsey acquired the property. The park is open all year round from sunrise to sunset. Admission is free, except for special events where parking and entry fees are charged.

Saumarez Park Manor

The imposing Saumarez Park Manor is now used as a retirement and nursing home.

Folk & Costume Museum

Part of the Folk & Costume Museum

In the park is the Folk and Costume Museum run by the National Trust of Guernsey. In several carefully restored former farmhouses, exhibits on traditional working and family life on the island are on display. Changing special exhibitions with selected pieces from the nationally known clothing collection, comprising more than 8000 pieces, also take place throughout the year.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ How the de Saumarez family shaped the island at guernseypress.com, March 10, 2007, accessed December 19, 2015
  2. ↑ Peter Jeremie: On the Law of Real Property in Guernsey , Guernsey, 1866, pp. 161-165
  3. ↑ On Guernsey, a vergée is 17,640 square feet or 1,638.80963 m². ( Dictiounnaire Angllais-Guernésiais , de Garis, 1982, ISBN 0-85033-462-4 )
  4. ^ NTG Folk & Costume Museum, Saumarez Park

Web links

Commons : Saumarez Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 28 ′ 12 "  N , 2 ° 34 ′ 48"  W.