Les Prairies

Historic Jersey buildings Les Prairies, St John Index of all house profiles If you own this property, have ancestors who lived here, or can provide any further information and photographs, please contact us through editorial@jerripedia.org

Property name

Les Prairies

Other names

Location

Route des Issues, St John

Type of property

Early 19th century house with 17th century remains

Valuations

No recent transactions

Families associated with the property

• Poingdestre
• Gibaut
• Le Gallais: The house passed to the Le Gallais family in 1844 when Edith Gibaut, grand-daughter of Moyse and Ann (below), married Jean Le Gallais (1819-1875). It remained in the possession of the Le Gallais family from then until 1942.

A Le Gallais connection was maintained past the end of the 19th century. In 1901 Albert Le Gallais (1864- ), already a retired farmer at the age of 37, was living here with his sisters Emma (1846- ), Lydia (1848- ) and Victoria (1858- ). In 1941 Albert and Lydia were still living here

• Bisson: In 1901 farmer Daniel Bisson (1850- ) and his wife Esther, nee Queree (1852- ) were living here with their son Edward John (1889- ) and their niece Lydia Le Boutillier (1885- ). Since Albert Le Gallais had retired from farming after the death of his father, the Bisson family were presumably his tenants.

Datestones

MGB ♥♥ APD 1800 - For Moise Gibaut and Ann Poingdestre, house previously in Poingdestre family passed to the Gibauts through their 1794 marriage. The date on this stone is clearly shown in this photograph. For reasons unknown it is given as 1756 in the Datestone Register, copied from the entry in the original list in OJH. That date makes no sense because Moyse and Ann did not marry until 1794 and this was a Poingdestre family property before then. Moyse was not born until 1766, and he was the son of Moyse and Anne, nee Payn, of Mainland, Bel Royal. The date is clearly wrongly given in the book and the register and HER has read it correctly as 1800, but also mentioned the other date as a second stone.

• 1818 - no initials

Historic Environment Record entry

Listed building

House circa 1800, with 19th century outbuildings and 17th century remains shown on the Richmond Map of 1795. An early example of a double pile house in Jersey, and a fine example of its type with many historic features surviving.

Farmhouse with paired wings and outbuildings around yard to rear.

Central panelled door has a transom light and a timber porch supported on two columns with pilaster responds, triglyph frieze, and mutuled cornice. The columns combine Greek and Roman Doric features: they are fluted and have bases, have a Greek echinus moulding and annulets, but have an astragal moulding instead of a groove below the neck.

Farmyard to rear. Granite rubble farm buildings with 17th century remains of earlier house. Ground floor windows with chamfered surrounds and accoladed lintels. The rear wall contains a blocked, 17th century round arched doorway.

Old Jersey Houses

This is a fine house of its style. Behind, and now converted into farm buildings, is the earlier house.

Notes and references