Historic Jersey buildings
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Property name
Le Rocher
Other names
St Catherine's Villa [1]
Location
Mont de La Mare St Catherine, St Martin
Type of property
Three-storey Victorian country house. Such properties are uncommon in Jersey, particularly when not linked to a farm, or on the grand scale of the island's 'cod houses'
Valuations
The property last changed hands in 2016 for an undisclosed sum
Families associated with the property
- Pallot - see history below
- Richardson - see history below
- Ayde: In 1941 Isabella Constance Adye, née Vickers, widow of Hugh Mortimer Adye, was living here. Her will is dated 1954. In 1945, after the end of the German Occupation she wrote to the Bailiff complaining about the quality of butter being distributed. Shortly after she wrote again to the Bailiff to complain that her gardener would no longer work for her because he was better off 'on the Labour' getting paid for doing virtually nothing, and without getting his clothes dirty
Historic Environment Record entry
Listed building
This is an unusual three-storey, three-bay mid-19th century house in this setting. It retains its historic proportions and features, and contributes to the rural streetscape. 20th century building to northeast.
Jersey Heritage history
This history of the property was produced for the Jersey Heritage Your home, your story series of presentations and was summarised on the website of Bailiwick Express.
Le Rocher has been home to many interesting characters since its origins in the mid-19th century, including one who caused some family issues and a swarm of unwelcome guests.
Lodger Henry Neville
During the height of the harbour works in St Catherine’s Bay, the Pallot family lived at the house from at least 1841 through to 1900. The 1851 census reveals that a ‘resident engineer to the harbour of refuge in St Catherine’s Bay’ was lodging with them. This was Henry James Walton Neville, a civil engineer, born in Devon in 1822. He was appointed as Resident Engineer in 1848 and was involved with the harbour project for eight years before moving on to work as the Superintendent of the Plymouth Breakwater from the mid-1850s.
In 1843, five years before arriving in Jersey, Neville had fathered a son with an unmarried woman in London and the child was named Henry after him. In 1868 he had another son, also named Henry, this time in Plymouth with his wife of two years. However, records show that in between the birth of these two children, it is highly likely that Neville fathered a third child during his time working in the island.
In the 1861 census, a seven-year-old named Clara Cooper is recorded as ‘boarding’ with the Pallot family. On further investigation, it appears that Clara was the daughter of Jane Mary Pallot. Jane was aged 18 at the time of the 1851 census when Neville lodged with the family.
A baptism record from 1853 shows that Jane, then aged 20, had a daughter called Clara Neville Pallot, born in St Helier and baptised in St Saviour. Neither event took place in St Martin, the parish where the family was based. No father’s name was recorded but Henry James Walton Neville was given as the child’s godparent by proxy. Throughout her life, Clara would use the alias surname Cooper, as well as the middle name Neville. She died in 1915 at the age of 62, and in her will she gave her name as Clara Neville Cooper.
Her mother, Jane, never married and the 1891 census shows that she was living alone at Le Rocher, aged 58, until her death in 1900.
Philip Richardson
A later owner of Le Rocher was Philip Mourant Richardson, a Solicitor of the Royal Court. In 1902 he was involved in a court case that made the front page of the local newspaper. He was arrested by the Constable of St Helier and charged with having knowingly made a false declaration under oath with the intention of evading the payment of parish rates.
Richardson had declared that he was residing at Le Rocher in St Martin. The Constable disputed this, saying Richardson was actually resident in St Helier, and therefore must pay the St Helier rates. The Constable stated: “It appears unjust and inadmissible that such a rich man as Mr Richardson…should have recourse to such means and to such subterfuges, to evade the legitimate payment of a few pounds sterling to the poor of the parish.”
It was determined that Richardson only slept at Le Rocher on Saturdays during summertime, but had the intention of making the house his permanent address. Primarily he had been living with family at Windsor Terrace, St Helier. A sufficient number of the jury found him not guilty. Despite this, the 1911 census shows that he remained living at Windsor Terrace, and it is uncertain whether he ever did make the permanent move to Le Rocher.
Bees
Seven years after the court case it was reported that the tenant of Le Rocher had noticed bees regularly entering the wall of the house. He found that they were drawn to a particular room. On further inspection, the room’s skirting was removed and bees were discovered. They had formed a honeycomb along the entire length of the room, which in some places was four inches thick and full of honey.
The bees were smoked out and the queen bee was found and placed in a hive, securing the swarm. The honeycomb was then removed and contained at least 40lbs of honey.
This was not the only time that bees were found cohabiting with residents at Le Rocher. During the Occupation, the house was owned by Isabel Adye, a widow whose only child attended boarding school in England. Letters sent from Isabel to her daughter, Joan, provide an insight into life in St Catherine in 1945.
Isabel wrote that she put her two hives of bees in the top front bedroom of Le Rocher as she believed they would have been stolen if she left them outside. On a similar note, she told her daughter that she chose to sleep in the kitchen 'so that she could hear burglars better if any came because many houses were robbed'. She said she was fortunate that she had only had hens and ducks stolen so far.
Notes and references
- ↑ Perhaps not a true Victorian 'villa', but the original name somehow seems far more appealing
