La Guillaumerie

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Historic Jersey buildings


La Guillaumerie Cottage, St Saviour


LaGuillaumerieTy.jpg

A picture of the property when it still had a thatched roof


Formerly known as La Guillaumerie, this property had its name changed in the mid-20th century to avoid confusion with other properties on the same road with similar names

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H20LaGuillaumerieCottage4.jpg

Property name

La Guillaumerie Cottage

Other names

La Guillaumerie

La Maison de Gallie (1671, 1799)

Location

Rue de la Guillaumerie, Maufant, St Saviour. [1]

Type of property

Early 17th century traditional Jersey farmhouse, which has remained virtually unchanged, but for a 17th or 18th century extension to the east. It has chamfered door and window stones supporting, respectively, a Norman round arch and window lintels. The latter are ornately and expensively decorated. However, all but two have been, as usual in houses of this age, enlarged. Large 20th century dormer windows do not suit the character of the house or conform in size to the other windows.

Valuations

There are no recent transactions on record for the property.

Families associated with the property or locality

  • Guillaume [2]
  • Le Geyt - What was later called La Guillaumerie was in both possession and occupation of the Le Geyt family from 1678, although they and their predecessors had long owned it. Its then owner was Abraham Le Geyt (1622-1686). In the Appairiement, or list of holdings, of 1671, it is listed with its orchards, as the property of Abraham Le Geyt, under the name of "La Maison de Gallie", who will have been Le Geyt`s tenant. The contract of sale of the house and its 30 vergées in 1799, calls the house, even then, the "Maison de Gallie". [3] The last Le Geyt owner, who sold the property in 1799, was Jean Le Geyt (1745-1800). [4]
  • Falle - Bought in 1799 by Edouard Falle. He and his descendants in a female line, Le Cornu, owned the house and farmed the land from that date. A 19th century descendant built a new and larger house, of Victorian character, which is now called La Guillaumerie Farm, 200 metres north of the old house. [5]
  • Le Cornu

Datestones

1916 photograph by Emile Guiton

Historic Environment Record entry

Listed building

This house, of very early origins, retains fine stonework to its south elevation door and windows. Overall the historic proportions and character are retained. Internally some historic features remain, in particular the corbelled fireplace.

This building is shown on the Richmond Map of 1795. Its core is considered to be 15th century [8] with development in 1720.

Gable end to road. House (two storey with attic, four bay) with two-storey, single bay to east. 20th century single storey garage extension to west. [9]

Rear elevation: flat roof, rendered 20th century extension extending nearly across full width.

Central entrance, originally single pile. Partitions removed, stair relocated. Ground floor east gable has corbelled granite fireplace with chamfers and chamfer stops to jambs. Ground floor west gable has modified fireplace. Ground floor west room retains original exposed floor joists. Original pencil mounded beam to first floor.

Old Jersey Houses

"It is one of the few houses with a small window beside the front door, to the right, and perhaps the only one with a highly decorated lintel.
"Most of the windows have been altered and enlarged, but one on the first floor, to the right of the arch, retains its original size and four surrounding stones.
"The three on the first floor left of the arch are probably contemporary with a 1720 alteration, as suggested by a datestone."

Notes and references

  1. The name of the road is variously found spelt Guillaumerie and Guilleaumerie, the second version apparently now being adopted as the postal address for properties on the road. However, the traditional spelling of the family name in the Island was Guillaume. It is believed that Mathieu Guillaume, in about 1603, originally built and lived in La Vieille Guillaumerie, on the east side of the road, although this property, having been rebuilt in the 18th century, retains few signs of antiquity, and that the road was named after this property. Other properties bearing the name, on the other side of the road, are believed to have taken their name from the road, not the family. The family name spelt Guilleaume did not appear in Jersey church records until the mid-19th century, and only on the western side of the island. Rue de la Guilleaumerie is, therefore, a spelling error which has been perpetuated since the late 20th century and is found in almanacs, the HER website and the Jersey Datestone Register.
  2. Stevens, Arthur and Stevens, in Jersey Place Names Volume 1, 271, write "La Guillaumerie fm. and Cottage, and La Rue de La Guillaumerie, (OJH. 157)... in Mess. 1603 [Aaron Messervy`s book of contracts ca. 1600] as the house of Mathieu Guillaume, Fief du Roy, nr. to the house of Damien Poingdestre; and probably the origin of La Guillaumerie Cottage".
  3. See also Abraham Le Geyt, note 75, a younger brother of Noé Le Geyt of the property known in the 19th century as La Chasse, which is situated a little to the south. Most of the land to the west of Rue de La Guillaumerie, and to the north of Vieux Ménage, home to the Damien Poingdestre mentioned above, had been owned by the Le Geyts dit Le Maillier and their forbears Le Loreur since at least the late 15th century. The Le Geyts of this branch were noted and zealous Royalists during the period of the English Civil War.
  4. This Jean Le Geyt featured in what was to be the second of three major economic setbacks to hit the Le Geyts dit Le Maillier, albeit not all in the same branch. Facing insolvency in 1799, on 17 October he sold his home, now called La Guillaumerie, and all his land to Edouard Falle, son of Edouard, son of Philippe: RP 88/231. The decision to do so seems to have been precipitous, as none of his sons had been apprenticed to trades or trained in any skills; indeed, his eldest son had only married four months before. Jean, himself, must have taken it badly or was already ill, as he died four months afterwards.
  5. The fine older La Guillaumerie, formerly called La Maison de Gallie, with its decorated carved lintels and chamfers, was to become, under English ownership, the quaintly named Guillaumerie Cottage. It does though, remain largely unchanged, but for the dormer windows, and is a good example of early 17th century vernacular architecture.
  6. We were not able to place Edmund (or Edmond) in any of our family trees. He was born in St Brelade in 1771, the son of Edmond and Elizabeth Rose. We have not been able to find a marriage record for their parents, but have now assembled a new family tree which we are confident shows the ancestry of Edmond, and a new descendancy in that parish.
  7. The Jersey Datestone Register suggests that there are three stones with this set of initials at the property, dated 1804, 1805 and 1814.
  8. It was the Island custom for elder sons of the larger landowners to be given their own home during their father`s lifetime. A 19th century example is Les Nièmes Lodge, St Peter, built on Le Feuvre of Les Nièmes land for their elder son, as attested by the datestone over the front door. This Maufant property was previously a part of that later called La Chasse, the owner of which, in the 15th century, was Jurat Regnauld Le Loreur (1440?-1523). His elder son, also named Regnauld (1480-1551), may therefore have lived here. As he died without issue, it passed to his senior heirs, Le Geyt, with the main house
  9. This was formerly a single storey outhouse, with a steep tiled roof reaching almost to the height of the main house roof, which will have served as a hay loft (see pictures above, taken by Emile Guiton, one of which was taken in 1916).
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