Samuel Curtis / La Chaire Gardens

In the Beginning

Samuel Curtis first saw La Chaire in the summer of 1841. He instantly knew this was the location he had been searching for to create his subtropical plant paradise. His search had taken him all over the British Isles, from Inverness in the north of Scotland to Dorset on the south coast of England. Until he reached La Chaire, no one location had the right combination of climate, geography, topography and geology that Curtis had been looking for.

At La Chaire he found a narrow, verdant, steep-sided valley running in an east-west direction. At the eastern end of the valley lay Rozel Bay and the sea with stunning views across to St Malo and mainland France. To the west the valley wound its way through, what appeared to Curtis on first sighting, to be mountainous country which sheltered La Chaire from the full force of south-westerly winds sweeping in from the Atlantic.

A swift-running stream filled the valley bottom, emptying itself onto the shingle beach of Rozel Bay. The south-facing side of the valley was positively Mediterranean in aspect, a steep and rocky cliff face with sun-baked soil and some natural terracing. The north-facing valley side was not quite so steep and covered with lush vegetation comprising evergreen oak, Quercus ilex and Jersey elm, Ulmus x sarniensis. It had the warmth of the Mediterranean coupled with the humidity of Chile or Tasmania.

Curtis judged correctly that frost would be virtually non-existent and the bedrock, (unlike the rest of Jersey which was granite), was a soft purple conglomerate, or pudding stone, which could be penetrated and disintegrated by tree roots into soil eminently suited to the growing of subtropical shrubs. Curtis had indeed found his garden.

Curtis started work on La Chaire almost immediately, although he did not move permanently to Jersey until 1852. On the south side of the valley he built a small square house under the cliffs shelter and began creating a series of paths and terraces leading to the summit. At the summit was a rocky outcrop, where during the Napoleonic wars a gun battery had been built.

Curtis died on January 6th 1860, but the gardens he created at La Chaire lived on. The plants he selected and planted were chosen with such skill and understanding that in 1910, the "Tropical Garden of La Chaire" (as it was then known), had become one of the principal attractions of Jersey, one that every tourist to the island was expected to visit.

The Decline of La Chaire

Following the First World War, La Chaire had a succession of owners, some showed more interest in the garden than others. The original house that Curtis built was pulled down and a grand Chateau built in its place. Manpower within the garden became limited and the garden began an inevitable, gradual decline. By the 1930s much of the original Curtis plant collection had been lost and there was only one gardener employed to look after what was left. The ultimate indignity came during the German Occupation when the Germans dug up, for transportation to Germany, some of the prized specimens still remaining. Many of them had their roots damaged during this process and it is thought likely that the majority would have perished before even reaching their new home.

After the Second World War the Chateau was turned into a hotel and since then several owners have changed its use from hotel to private residence and back to hotel. During this period the grounds immediately surrounding the Chateau have been maintained to a basic level. Elsewhere it is as if the gardeners of La Chaire left the garden in 1910 and have never returned.

Today, there are only clues to the garden of great beauty and horticultural importance that once existed on this site. Crumbling walls and steps, old lead irrigation pipes, weed covered terracing and giant, ancient, evergreen trees; their broken branches and dead limbs telling the story of the last ninety years.

Background of the restoration project

A garden with its very own micro-climate has been re-discovered on Jersey. Having fallen into disrepair, the significance of the garden had been lost in time. Following the discovery, a group of experts have come together with the aim of putting the garden back on the horticultural map, where it hasn't been since the early 1900s.

The garden was unearthed by Cheltenham-based businesswoman, Angie Petkovic, Managing Director, APT Marketing Solutions, whilst at a meeting with her hotel client, Chateau La Chaire, Rozel Bay. The garden is situated within the hotel grounds. Angie says, “I knew there was something special about the garden as soon as I wandered into it. However, it wasn't until I invited expert Tony Russell to fly over and look at it that we started to appreciate just how important it was.”

The original creator of the gardens, Samuel Curtis, was a renowned Victorian horticulturalist who had toured the British Isles looking for the perfect micro climate in which to develop a garden. In 1841 he found the ideal environment - a sunny, sheltered, rocky valley facing the sea in Rozel, Jersey.

Feasibility study

In October 2002, Angie Petkovic of APT Marketing Solutions commissioned a feasibility study for the restoration of the gardens at La Chaire, Rozel Bay, Jersey. The feasibility study was to include an historical survey, botanical survey and garden restoration plan. The study is due for completion by the end of spring 2003.

Lead horticultural consultant for the study is Tony Russell of Tony Russell Associates and the historical survey and restoration plan is being carried out by Simon Bonvoison of Nicholas Pearson associates.

The objectives of the study are as follows:

• To confirm whether the gardens at La Chaire are of such botanical and historical importance that a restoration is justifiable.
• To ascertain the extent and nature of any restoration.
• To confirm whether it is practical, given the current topography and access considerations, to carry out a restoration which results in a garden that is open for public visitation.
• To identify options for future management following restoration.
• To identify the costs involved in a restoration.
• To identify the timescales involved in a restoration.
• To identify potential partners and funders of a restoration.

£30,000 of the total £60,000 required, has been raised for the feasibility study. Donations towards the feasibility study are gratefully received. The outcome of the feasibility study will be made public.

There is a long way to go but if the feasibility study is positive the objectives are to restore the garden faithfully to how it was at its peak one hundred years ago and in the process give Samuel Curtis, probably one of Britainís greatest plantsmen, his due recognition.

There is the potential at Chateau la Chaire to re-create a garden that has a greater diversity of plants growing outside than any other garden in Britain.

CURRENTLY THE PROJECT IS IN ABEYANCE