Le Moulin de Quétivel

Le Moulin de Quétivel is a water mill located on a site where there has been mills since the early 14th century. It has been restored to working order by the Trust and grinds its own flour. Apart from the machinery, the mill includes a display of Neolithic quern stones found in Jersey, an exhibition on the history of milling and a video room where you can watch a 20 minute film about Quétivel. Our mill shop sells fresh stone-ground flour as well as a range of gifts, many of which are locally produced. Outside, there is a small garden where over 50 different types of herb flourish.

Description

Le Moulin de Quétivel is the only working mill left from the 8 mills which were active in St. Peter’s Valley, at one time or another. The mills were powered by a small stream, measuring only six feet at its widest, that winds 4 ¾ miles along its course to Beaumont where it flows into the sea. The mill stream runs along the lower boundary of the wood, with a meadow between it and the natural stream in the valley bottom. Le Moulin de Quétivel is located in a characteristic position on the side of the valley, a little way up from the bottom, at a point where a steep lane plunges down the valley side to cross the stream.

The miller and his family lived in the mill. The ground floor was divided with the huge fireplace dominating the kitchen and living area, which has the luxury of stone paving. This would otherwise have been bare earth. On the second floor a bedroom, with a second fireplace and adjacent cupboard, was partitioned off.

At right-angles to the mill building is the granary. The upper floors would have been filled with grain, stored in bins, boxed in from floor to ceiling. On the first floor are additional machines for the processing of grain and flour. These could be driven from a lay-shaft powered by the main shaft. Nowadays grain is stored in a modern bin, free from dust and mice !

Click here to view a sketch of the Milling Process and of the Machinery.

History

There has been a watermill on this site since before 1309, when it was recorded as Crown property. At that time every mill was the property of the Crown or the Seigneur of a fief, or sometimes before the Reformation of a French religious house. The people owed "suit at mill" which meant that they not only had to grind their corn there, but also give every 16th sheaf to the Seigneur and provide labour and materials for repairing and maintaining the mill. The mill was then known as 'Keytivel Mill'. It may be from Ketill (name of a Viking who also gave his name to the modern Quettehou, near Cherbourg) and "vellir" (fields), thus meaning "the fields of Ketill".

By 1562 Le Moulin de Quétivel was privately owned by Hostes Nicolle and in the 18th century, when the current building was constructed, it was inherited by Elizabeth Corbet who subsequently married Charles Lemprière. He was the founder of the local Conservative political party, whose emblem was the laurel, and it has been said that this is the reason for the large laurel bush to be found growing outside the front door.

Le Moulin de Quétivel continued working until the end of the 19th century, but then fell into a state of disrepair. During the German Occupation it was brought back into use, only to be abandoned again soon after the end of the war. In 1969 when the Trust was negotiating a lease from the Jersey New Waterworks Company, the whole building suffered a horrendous fire in which most of the machinery and internal woodwork was reduced to charred remains. Le Moulin de Quétivel (Quétivel Mill), was eventually leased to the Trust by the Jersey New Waterworks Company in 1973, under a 99 years agreement and in exchange for a “pepper-corn rent”.

Restoration works

The Trust has effected the complete restoration of the mill, making use of the existing stonework which probably dates back to no earlier than the 18th Century, except the gable end on the south which may be the remains of an earlier building.

The whole milling processing device had to be rebuilt: machinery was obtained from three other mills (Tesson, Gargate and Grands Vaux); a new mill stone, made from burr stone, was imported from France: it is expected to have a life of about a hundred years; a new 12 foot diameter wheel was built, using Opepe, an exceptionally hard Nigerian wood for the wooden parts, and the Quétivel original iron axle.

The restoration work on the mill earned the Trust a Commendation in the 1978 Civic Trust Awards.

Site Access

The mill is located in the Parish of St. Peter, at the junction between La Vallee de St. Pierre and Le Mont Fallu. The site can be reached via Bus route 8 (8 a) departing from St. Helier. There are 2 car-parks, one next to the mill and the other further up St. Peter’s Valley. A nice walk in the woods leads to the mill. It is open to the public from May to September and also in December for the Trust’s Christmas Bazaar.