List of Sites of Special Interest
21 Pier Road, St Helier.
This report has been prepared by Jersey Heritage as part of its responsibility under a Service Level Agreement to provide reports and recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Environment on the architectural, historical and archaeological significance of buildings and sites.
The assessment and recommendation are made in accordance with Article 51 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law, 2002; Policy G11 of the Jersey Island Plan, 2002; and is in accordance with the existing criteria for assessment and designation of historic buildings. The report includes the views and advice offered by the Ministerial Registration and Listing Advisory Group.
Author of report: Roger Hills BA(Hons) MA DipBldgCons (RICS) IHBC Head of Historic Buildings
Date of report: 10 November 2008
File ref: HE1308
Current status
Registered as BLI.
Relevant interests of the site (see schedule)
Historic interest
The house was built by Charles Payn on land purchased from Abraham Gosset in 1802. It is located in the historic harbour and warehousing district of the town and is an increasingly rare survival of a merchant’s house of this period.
Architectural interest
The Pier Road frontage is 2-storey with attic and basement levels - the facade constructed principally of dressed granite with unusual limestone dressings. The Georgian-pattern front door is notable for its wide 9-panel design and diamond-pattern transom light - the doorway approached via a flight of granite and limestone steps. Iron railings define a small area to the front of the house, within which a gate leads to granite steps down to a flush-panelled doorway with transom light at basement level. The windows are later 19th century 4-pane timber sashes.
The rear (Ordnance Yard) elevation is a tall 4-storeys with attic. The walls are rubble granite with dressed granite to openings. There is a cat slide dormer at the top of the internal staircase, alongside which a parapet wall masks the roof.
The interior of the house retains its unusual original c.1803 layout - a wide passageway with shallow integral cupboards on the north side and a pair of rooms leading off on the south side. In the rear corner is the original dog-leg staircase - rising from basement to attic - with stick balusters and squared newel with moulded cap. Surviving historic joinery includes most skirting and door architraves, some 4-panel internal doors with beaded mouldings, and 4-panel cupboard doors. There is a 3-panel door with raised and fielded panels to the attic. There appears to have been a re-fit of the rooms in the 1930s and some of the doors, and all of the tiled fireplaces, date from this period.
The house retains its Georgian structural timbers. The roof trusses are original with oak pegged construction visible. Below the living accommodation, at the level of Ordnance Yard, is a single large room with exposed granite walls and a stone paved floor. The house above is supported on substantial floor beams, some of which are cylindrical and have the appearance of re-used ships masts - a rare survival.
There is an attached single-storey outbuilding of rubble granite and brick to the rear of the house. This store / workshop has no internal features of interest.
Advice offered by MRLAG (and others if stated)
MRLAG discussed 21 Pier Road at its meeting on 27 October 2008. Members were unanimous that the house should be listed as an SSI.
Jersey Heritage recommendation
21 Pier Road should be listed as a site of special interest.
Justification relating to criteria
The listing of 21 Pier Road as an SSI is in accordance with the existing criteria for assessment and designation of historic buildings as follows:
The special interest of 21 Pier Road extends substantially to its authentic fabric, plan form and interior features;
No.21 is of special interest for its architectural design, composition and use of materials and details;
Listing No.21 is in accordance with the criterion that states that the survival of the major elements of historic interiors from before 1840 are likely to justify designation;
No.21 Pier Road is of historic interest as it is illustrative of aspects of Jersey’s social and economic history.
Attachments
SSI schedule and plan
Photographs, October 2008
Board of Trustees
Chairman: Jurat John de Veulle OBE Vice-Chairman: Philip Le Brocq
Rowland Anthony, Geoffrey Crill, Connétable Simon Crowcroft, Blair Gould, Clive Jones, Deputy Carolyn Labey, Paul Nicolle, Jane Stubbs,
Jonathan Voak