Saint Helier

Saint Helier (sānt hĕl`yər, Fr. săNtālyā`), town (1991 pop. 24,941), capital of Jersey, Channel Islands, Great Britain, on St. Aubin's Bay. The administrative and cultural center of Jersey, St. Helier is also a residential town, resort, and point of export for local produce. Royal Square was the scene of a battle (1781), when the French unsuccessfully attempted to regain Jersey. The parish church dates partly from the 14th cent. A museum, art gallery, zoo, and an observatory are in the town. On an adjacent island, protecting the harbor and connected with the mainland at low tide, is Elizabeth Castle, built in the late 16th cent. Near the castle is a rock that was supposedly the hermitage of St. Helier or St. Helerius, the early missionary for whom the town was named. On the rock are the ruins of a 12th-century chapel. Victoria College, dating from 1852, is there.