Catholicism was made illegal in the island after the Reformation, but in the 1790s there was a sudden influx of Roman Catholic refugees from the revolution in France. The refugees were allowed to hold services but not allowed to make converts.

The Catholic population was boosted in the 1830s and 40s when large numbers of Irish labourers came to the island to work on the major building projects of the time, including the new harbour.

At the end of the 19th century a further wave of Catholics settled in Jersey in the form of teaching and nursing orders - the De La Salle brothers, Jesuits and the Little Sisters of the Poor. In 1894 the Jesuits bought a property called Highlands and began to make plans for what was to become Highlands College.


Many religious symbols were destroyed during the Reformation including this 14th century wayside cross from St Ouen.


This photograph from the Archive shows the First Communicants who were students at Highlands College in 1912.

The beautiful drawings of stained glass window designs are by the artist Henri Thomas Bosdet in the late 19th century. The windows based on these drawings were originally in the fisherman's Chapel in St Brelade and are now on display in the Jersey Museum. Bosdet did not, however limit his work to Catholic churches or to Jersey; his stained glass windows can be found in Jersey's protestant parish churches, in England and Belgium.



These windows are from St Brelade's church and are now in the Jersey Museum