Haut de la Garenne

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Haut de la Garenne is in La Rue de la Pouclée et des Quatre Chemins, Saint Martin.

Haut de la Garenne is a youth hostel in Saint Martin, Jersey, in the Channel Islands.^[1]^[2]

1 History
- 1.1 Child abuse investigation
2 Toponymy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

An account of the opening of the industrial school in 1867 in La Nouvelle Chronique de Jersey

Haut de la Garenne began in 1867 as an industrial school for "young people of the lower classes of society and neglected children".^[3] The construction of the school was funded by the Assembly of Governor, Bailiff and Jurats in order to house and educate boys formerly looked after at the General Hospital in Saint Helier.^[4] On 22 June 1867, 45 boys were transferred by coach to the new institution, overseen by Jurats Neel and Aubin, Charles Simon, director of the hospital, and Mr. Higginbottom, master of the new school.^[5]

By 1900 it had become the Jersey Home for Boys and continued as a children's home for many years. In 1921 the States of Jersey took over the buildings and most of the powers of the Assembly of Governor, Bailiff and Jurats.^[6] During the German Occupation during the Second World War, the German military used the building as a signal station. Following the Liberation of 1945, the building continued as a children's home. On 17 March 1960 the States adopted an act changing the name of the institution to Haut de la Garenne.^[7] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the home received both boys and girls. After the home closed in 1986, the building was used to portray a police station in the TV detective series Bergerac.^[8]

On 8 December 1998 the States voted to establish a trust to manage and operate Haut de la Garenne as a residential centre and the building was used for temporary accommodation for visiting groups of musicians and sportspeople, especially during festivals. On 22 October 2002 the States adopted a Law granting an Act of Incorporation to the Association called "The Haut de la Garenne Trust".^[9] The States spent £2.25m in 2003 to convert the building into a youth hostel, part of the International Youth Hostel Federation. The building also receives occasional conferences.^[10]

[edit] Child abuse investigation

The property received widespread media coverage in 2008 when a fragment of what was believed to be a child's skull^[11] was discovered beneath some stairs by police, who were searching the building as part of an investigation into alleged child abuse during the property's time as a children's home.^[3] Initially thought to date from the early 1980s, the police believed that the fragment could actually be from before the 1940s, and ruled it to be outside of the investigation.^[12]^[13]. Forensic tests later determined that the fragment was almost certainly not bone, and might actually be wood or part of a coconut shell. ^[14]

The government investigation began in 2006 with a wide ranging enquiry into child abuse which escalated into a States of Jersey Police investigation in 2007 during which witness evidence repeatedly indicated Haut de la Garenne, which housed up to 60 children at any one time, ^[15] to be one of the places where abuse took place.^[3] The former minister for health and social services, Senator Stuart Syvret, said that he had been made aware in early 2007 of abuse at the home and had called for an independent enquiry. Frank Walker, the Chief Minister, accused him of damaging Jersey's reputation by speaking to the media.^[16]

There are 100 people claiming to have been abused, according to Police, and over 40 suspects.^[17]

On 27 February 2008, authorities disclosed the discovery of another chamber. It is believed to possibly contain further remains, based on reactions from a sniffer dog.^[18] Forensic teams spent the weekend of 1 March 2008-2 March 2008 searching the building. Debris excavated from the basement was sent to laboratories for further examination on 3 March 2008. It has been suggested that those finds may actually be props from the TV series Bergerac. ^[19]

On Friday 7 March more evidence in the form of blood spots was identified. The samples were discovered on a concrete bath in the Haut de la Garenne cellar. Further bone fragments have reportedly been unearthed as of 9 March ^[20]. The BBC news site reported a second cellar, three times the size of the initially uncovered basement, had been identified on 10 March^[21].

On Wednesday 16 April it was announced that the Police were excavating two pits that had been dug in the grounds of the home.^[17] A man had contacted them stating that he had been asked to dig the pits in the 1970s or 1980s but had not been told why. Police have found lime in one otherwise empty pit, but "can think of no reason why it would have been created".

The Youth Hostels Association has announced that Haut de la Garenne will remain closed until March 2009.^[22]

[edit] Toponymy

Haut de la Garenne is French for top of the warren. The building is situated on Mont de la Garenne, a hill overlooking Mont Orgueil where rabbits were hunted. This varenne of the King was a perquisite of the Crown.^[23]