JERSEY Heritage has pulled off a national hat-trick, with three of its sites scooping top honours in a major UK awards ceremony recognising the best visitor attractions.
Firstly, Jersey Museum, Art Gallery & Victorian House has won a ‘Gold Accolade’ in the VisitEngland Visitor Attraction Accolades 2024-2025.
Other notable attractions awarded that prize were London’s Imperial War Museum and The National Gallery.
Jersey’s Maritime Museum also received a prize, winning the ‘Welcome Accolade’.
Lastly, La Hougue Bie Tearoom was awarded the ‘Quality Food and Drink Accolade’, culminating in a trio of wins for the cultural organisation.
The prizes were announced earlier this week at the annual VisitEngland Accolades. The assessment process was carried out independently at each site earlier this year.
Jersey Heritage also revealed that all six of its visitor sites – Jersey Museum, the Maritime Museum, La Hougue Bie, Mont Orgueil, Elizabeth Castle and Hamptonne Country Life Museum – attained Visit England’s ‘Quality Rose Marque’.
About the achievements, Morgan Ward, Jersey Heritage’s head of visitor services, said they “mean a huge amount to our team”.
“Our congratulations go to all our staff for the high standard they maintain at our sites, which continues to impress the VisitEngland assessors,” he said.
Mr Ward said that Jersey Museum’s golden win was “especially pleasing” as several changes have been made to the attraction this year including the permanent exhibition, ‘La Tèrr’rie d’Jèrri’ and the new Visitor Information Centre run in partnership with Visit Jersey.
“Winning the ‘Gold Accolade’ is confirmation that these changes have benefited our visitors and enhanced their overall experience,” he said.
About the Maritime Museum’s prize, Mr Ward continued: “The ‘Welcome’ award for the Maritime Museum is testament to the time and effort put in by our staff. They are great ambassadors for a site that remains a firm favourite with our visitors.”
On the third prize at La Hougue Bie, he added: “As we are now running La Hougue Bie Tearoom, we are delighted to have won the ‘Quality Food and Drink Accolade’ for this site as well.”
