Culture
Jersey has a rich and diverse cultural life, with a vibrant arts scene, fascinating heritage sites and activities and hundreds of active clubs and associations providing access to leisure and sport for all.
Arts and entertainment
Victor Hugo wrote poems in Jersey, René Lalique made sublime glasswork and Henry Bosdet, the celebrated designer of stained glass windows was born here and left us many fine examples of his work. Jerseywoman Lillie Langtry performed here and Sir John Everett Millais was born to Jersey parents. T. E. Lawrence, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Marx and Engels visited. So did Charlie Chaplin – the forerunner of Jersey’s brilliant street performers. Early pioneers of photography honed their craft in Jersey and their modernist successors Claude Cahun and Malcolm Arbuthnot lived and worked here. Authors Gerald Durrell and Jack Higgins made the Island their home, and local poet Jeremy Reed’s ‘sea jade sky’ and ‘iridescently becalmed’ bay brings Jersey to mind. Visit these pages to learn more about Jersey's rich artistic seam and find out how to get involved in today's performances, concerts, exhibitions and events.
Heritage
Jersey’s landscape and the character of its people are forged from more than five thousand years of battles, exploration, struggle and reinvention – leaving behind a unique and fascinating legacy of history, culture and heritage.
Many of the Island’s first rate museums and exhibitions have won national and international acclaim for their imaginative portrayal of the Jersey's past. The Jersey Museum and the Living Legend explain how Jersey’s mix of cultures and people gave rise to the Island of today. The Jersey War Tunnels skillfully and sensitively explores the story of German occupation of Jersey during the Second World War. The renowned Maritime Museum explores the seafaring adventures of Jersey’s brave and enterprising Island community, and in the gallery next door, the Occupation Tapestry is the showcase for a monumental tableau of life under occupation, stitched by thousands of Island residents.
These pages will enable you to learn more about the sites, monuments, art, listed buildings, archaeology and archives that tell the rich and exciting story of Jersey and help you get get closer to the characters and events that forged this unique history.
