JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST
Le Bouillon, La Rue des Landes, St Brelade
This report has been prepared by the Jersey Heritage Trust as part of its responsibility under a Service Level Agreement to provide reports and recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Environment on the registration of historic buildings and sites.
The Planning and Environment Department requested in April 2007 that the Jersey Heritage Trust assess the architectural, historical and other interests of Le Bouillon ahead of discussions with the Ministerial Registration and Listing Advisory Group.
Author of report: Roger Hills BA(Hons) MA DipBldgCons (RICS) IHBC Curator of Historic Buildings
Date of report: 15 June 2007
File ref BR0062
Relevant interests of the site (also see assessment form)
Le Bouillon has historic and architectural interest as a farmstead apparently dating to the first half of the C18 with some later C19 alterations. The site comprises parallel farm ranges incorporating a farmhouse and cowshed on the south range and a series of associated outbuildings forming a north range. The site retains its historic character and there is a good survival of external historic fabric and features – although there has been some external damage, most notably the partial demolition of the pigsty.
The farmhouse and cowshed retain their interior historic plan form but the farmhouse has been recently stripped of the majority of its historic joinery. An early C19 staircase survives in the house as does some original floor joists, although the extent of survival is unclear as there are plasterboard ceilings. The surviving beams have been unsympathetically cut back to allow for greater head height. There are also some integral granite fireplaces - although some appear incomplete with later alterations and repairs - and what may be a wig closet on the first floor. The roof has been raised and is a later replacement. The other buildings within the group preserve their external character but have limited interior interest, with the exception of a 2-storey outbuilding in the north range that substantially retains its historic interior and fabric, with a surviving C18 pegged roof frame and internal joinery.
Advice received (MRLAG or others)
The JHT carried out an external and internal inspection of the site on 1 May 2007 and MRLAG was shown a detailed PowerPoint display of the site at its meeting on 14 May 2007.
MRLAG unanimously agreed that the farmstead has architectural and historic interest and meets the criteria for registration as a BLI. The group further agreed that it would be desirable to be able to protect surviving interior features such as the staircase and fireplaces, but concluded that SSI could not be justified given the only partial survival of the historic interior coupled with the damage sustained by the historic fabric.
The group unanimously agreed that the 2-storey outbuilding in the north range substantially retains its historic interior and fabric, with a surviving C18 pegged roof frame and internal joinery, and therefore merits registration as a pSSI.
JHT recommendation
The farm group at Le Bouillon should be retained on the Register as a BLI, with the 2-storey, C18 outbuilding in the north range upgraded to a pSSI.
Justification relating to criteria
The registration of the farm group at Le Bouillon is in accordance with Interim Policy HB1 which states ‘Historic buildings which contribute positively to the distinctive character or appearance of Jersey’s built-up areas or countryside, particularly where they are of ‘group value’, will be identified and included in the Register of Buildings and Sites of Architectural, Archaeological and Historical Importance in Jersey.’
There are internal features of interest such as the surviving historic plan form and staircase but it is proposed that the buildings at Le Bouillon (with the exception of the C18 outbuilding in the north range) do not meet the requirement of para 6.1 of the Interim Policies that states ‘The essential criterion for the designation of an historic building as a Site of Special interest is that its special interest extends substantially to its authentic fabric, plan form, interior features, or historical associations of the interior’.
The C18 outbuilding in the north range meets the requirement of para 6.1 of the Interim Policies and satisfies the published criteria for registration as a pSSI in accordance with Interim Policy HB2 which states ‘Designation of buildings of architectural or historical importance as Sites of Special Interest will normally be limited to those whose authentic fabric, plan form, interior features or historical associations of the interior contribute to their special interest.’
Attachments:
Location plan
Assessment form and photographs, April 2007