Hamptonne crisis meetings to be held

Tuesday 9th February 2010, 2:58PM GMT.

Hamptonne is seen as an important way of preserving Jersey’s agricultural heritage as part of the Island’s culture.

THE custodians of Hamptonne – Jersey’s country life museum – are holding crisis meetings tomorrow to try to keep the site open.

The National Trust for Jersey, which owns the St Lawrence attraction, and the Société Jersiaise, which has a lifetime interest, are expected to discuss emergency measures to save it from closure at two separate meetings.

Their discussions will follow a meeting between the two groups and Jersey Heritage, which manages Hamptonne, last week.

None of the three would today say whether the museum was likely to open this year.

However, Jersey Heritage has said that without an extra £550,000 a year, it will be forced to close Hamptonne, the Maritime Museum and the Occupation Tapestry Gallery to the public. An announcement is due to be made within weeks.

See Tuesday’s JEP for full story.

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