Louvain & Summerleigh

These two charming granite cottages date from the first half of the 19th century. There were generously donated to the National Trust for Jersey by Miss Journeaux as the best means of securing their permanent preservation in an area which has been subjected to considerable housing development.

Louvain

‘Louvain’ is identifiable on the Godfrey map of 1849. It does not appear to have changed a great deal in appearance since it was built by Jean Journeaux on an area of land he purchased on the 13th September 1834 from Thomas Godfray. The land was part of an orchard called ‘Le Jardin de Causé’.

The little house bears all the hallmarks of its period; it has a fine lintel over the front door dated 1835. It is built of granite in the traditional way with two windows on each side of the door. All the apertures are neatly framed in brick from one of the local brick yards. Modern dormers have been set into the slate roof. Inside, in Miss Journeaux’s lifetime, both principal rooms retained the mantle-pieces, doors, skirtings and all the wooden features of the 1830’s house and contained the furniture which had been handed down in the family from generation to generation. Much of the furniture is now in the cottage and is currently being catalogued and repaired in partnership with the Jersey Heritage Trust.

Back in 1834, a week after the contract referred to above, Jean Journeaux purchased, for cash not rente, a right of way in perpetuity to the sea over the dunes on the seaward side of the road “…droit de chemin et passage pour aller et venir à tous usages, par certain chemin de quatre pieds de Roi de laize qui traverse la mielle…du chemin public à se rendre à la mer”. The vendor was Thomas Le Clercq, Jean’s father-in-law and also owner of the house to the west of ‘Louvain’, now known as ‘Well Cottage’.

Either he or his son, who was also called Thomas, sold the southern part of this pathway to Le Chemin de Fer de l’Est de Jersey in 1872 and the railway line was subsequently built across it. The Journeaux family continued to use their right of way when there were no trains in sight until the railway company went into liquidation in about 1930. It has now become incorporated into the garden of a house sited near the seashore. The successors of the Le Clerq family did not refer to the right of way in contracts subsequent to the purchase of the right in 1957. It was however recognised on the Journeaux side and is included in their family Partage of 1957.

When he bought the site of his house in 1834, Jean Journeaux was thirty years old. Marguerite Le Clerq, his wife, was a year younger. They were both natives of St. Clement, but they were married in St Helier on the 10th December 1827. The fine ‘marriage stone’ over the front door of ‘Louvain’ records their initials JJN and MLC. Their second child, called Philip John, was born in 1839. He was the ancestor of Claride Maud Journeaux, the lady who gave the cottage to The National Trust for Jersey in 1988.

Summerleigh

Claride Maud Journeaux had a brother, Philip John Journeaux. He inherited, from the Partage of Philip John Journeaux, their father, in 1957, the little cottage they called ‘Summerleigh’. It lies immediately to the east of ‘Louvain’ and, externally, is very similar to look at. ‘Summerleigh came to Miss Journeaux as principal heir to her brother. Having no heirs herself she conceived the happy notion of leaving both her cottages to The National Trust for Jersey.

‘Summerleigh’, like ‘Louvain’ is built on land which belonged to Thomas Godfray. He sold the plot in 1837 to Thomas Filleul, who built the cottage. His eldest son, also Thomas, sold it in 1864 to Thomas François Le Clerq. At about this date the little house became known as ‘Hero Cottage’. Was ‘Hero’ the nickname used to distinguish one of these men called Thomas from the rest, or was it named after one of the ships of the same name?

However that may be, unfortunately, Thomas Le Clerq went bankrupt and his property passed to Charles Hamon who in turn passed it on to Edward Robert Carr, Gent. The latter leased and sold it to John Holmes Gibson, Gent. in 1881 as ‘Hero Cottage’. This gentleman held the cottage only two years before he passed it to Jean Pierre Cordon, who was the second husband of Marie Viel through whom, as she was his grandmother, it came to the brother of Miss Journeaux.

Site Access

The two cottages are located in the Parish of St Clement, 1 kilometre north-west from the Parish Hall, on the north side of La Grande Route de la Cote (Coast Road) opposite Pontac Common. The site can be reached via Bus route 1 departing from St Helier. The properties are currently occupied by tenants and are therefore usually not open to the general public. However, It is possible to visit the cottages on the Heritage Open Day, usually held in September every year.