Historic Jersey buildings
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Property name
La Forge
Other names
La Forge Farm
Location
Rue es Picots, Trinity
Type of property
Former forge and working farm, substantially unaltered
Valuations
La Forge, Rue au Carrefour was sold for £300,000 in 2005. La Forge backs on to this road and, while the whole property is unlikely to have sold for that amount, it is possible that the transacton involved one or more outbuildings
Families associated with the property
- De Gruchy: *The 1901 census shows widower Pierre De Gruchy (1840- ) as head of household, living with his farmer son Pierre (1873-1921), daughter in law Eliza, nee Hamon (1877-1961), and their children May (1898-1970) and Mildred (1899-1974). The couple had one more daughter, Lilian Margaret (1901-1981) before they emigrated to Canada, where their last daughter Bertha Grace was born in 1907. Pierre (1840- ), who was married to Louisa Rondel (1849-1889) was the son of blacksmith Pierre and Ann, nee Mattingley (1809-1852)
- Cabot: The family bought the property from a de Gruchy early in the 20th century.
Datestones
- 18 PDGC AMTG 33 - For Pierre de Gruchy and Anne Mattingley who married the year after the stone was erected, presumably while work was being undertaken in anticipation of their moving in after the wedding
Historic Environment Record entry
Listed building
Early-mid 19th century rural property retaining historic character and original features.
Five-bay, two-storey main house with three-bay, two-storey outbuilding to east and detached farm building to the west.
Interior retains some historic features, reportedly including stairs with stick balusters, plain sides and a mahogany handrail returning in a chameleon twist at the base, interior doors with good architraves and wide floor boards.
Old Jersey Houses
The only former forge to feature in the books, this property is said to have 'a satisfying facade, in that everything about it appears to be contemporaneous and to support the marriage stone'. [1]
The remainder of the brief entry is devoted to minor architectural features, including the width of floor boards.
Notes and references
- ↑ The stone is actually dated for the year before the marriage of Pierre de Gruchy (not Philippe as wrongly identified in Volume Two) and Anne Mattingley, perhaps erected following work on the property in anticipation of their nuptuals. This is a factual error by the author, who compounded it by referring to the stone as a 'marriage stone'
Occupation pig case
In 1944 Herbert Philip Cabot, of La Forge Farm was referred to the island authorities by the Germans for 'illegal custody of a pig'. He was tried by the Royal Court and fined £20, with £3 costs.
