Buildings in the town and parish of St Peter Port

Buildings in the Town and Parish of St Peter Port by C.E.B.Brett (Sir Charles Edward Bainbridge Brett CBE) was a book published by the National Trust of Guernsey in 1975, and contained an architectural survey of the Town

Background

The Executive Committee of the National Trust of Guernsey had been impressed by a series of guides issued by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (of which Brett was Chairman). They decided to carry out a similar survey of the Town and contacted the UAHS for guidance. This led to Brett offering to compile the list himself. He visited the island in 1974 and from his notes of the visit created a draft. This in turn was circulated amongst a team from the National Trust of Guernsey who revised, corrected and added background research to the text. Brett paid another visit to Guernsey in 1975, and worked with the local team to finalize the copy.

Contents

The book first covers the central part of town, and then the segments surrounding that in a clockwise direction, starting in the South. Each building discussed is described, assigned a date ascribed and evaluated. Certain buildings and streets are dealt with as a whole. A classification system is used to designate certain buildings of merit or as eyesores.

The work has the defects of it's merits in that Brett's own opinions are strongly expressed, and his opinions may not be to all tastes. They are also the opinions of an outsider (as he freely admits in the introduction), but the work was so well recieved that he was asked to carry out similar surveys of both Alderney, and St Helier. It remains a fine record of the Town's buildings.

References

• Buildings in the Town and Parish of St Peter Port: C.E.B. Brett, National Trust of Guernsey/Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975