Historic Jersey buildings
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Property name
La Ronce [1]
Other names
La Vieille Maison
Location
Route de Trodez, St Ouen
Type of property
17th century smallholding
Valuations
Owned by National Trust since 1987. Bought for £117,000 and restored. Sold in 2022 for £1.5 million to fund restoration work on other Trust properties.
Families associated with the property
- Le Broc:The National Trust for Jersey research shows that André Le Marquand purchased the property in 1624 from André Maugier who had in turn acquired it from André Le Broc. As no transaction appears to exist between Maugier and Le Broc, it must be assumed that the sale occurred prior to 1602, when the registration of contracts became compulsory. This would suggest that the house existed before that time. David Rochfort Luke sold La Ronce to the National Trust for Jersey in 1987.
- Maugier
- Le Marquand
Datestones
- ALM 1631 - for Andre Le Marquand [2]
Historic Environment Record entry
Listed building
A good example of a 17th century Jersey small holding retaining historic character and features. Early 17th century origins, possibly earlier. East extension circa 1600. East outbuilding circa 1850.
Shown on the Richmond Map of 1795. House with east dower and rear outshut; outbuilding and well head. Central doorway to main house is seven-piece arch with hollow chamfered surround, circa 1500. Central stone has faintly incised date (16?1).
La Société Jersiaise excavated a trench close to an original fireplace. They discovered some angular stones which proved to be a wall. Five other walls ran at right angles to the wall. The Société suggest that they could relate to drainage or an earlier building. A flint blade and prehistoric pottery shards were found in dark, water- and wind-deposited soil which had been added to the natural clay just before or at the time the walls were constructed. These walls run beneath the cottage to the outside.
Old Jersey Houses
The arch is only 5ft 6in high, which is low even for the earliest of our arches, and is composed of only seven stones; in this it is unique.
Notes and references
- ↑ Means a 'bramble'
- ↑ Old Jersey Houses attributes this stone to a Le Maistre, because of the prevalence of the name in the area. However, research by the National Trust for Jersey, which bought the property in 1987, reveals that Andre Le Marquand bought the house in 1624. This is proof, if it were needed, that assumptions like this based on the prevalence of a family name in a particular area, can be a very poor guide
