4 minute read
I sty with my little eye
Jane Aubin has a bit of a porcine passion. You wouldn’t have thought that a humble pigsty could hold so much interest but Jane is so fascinated that she is working on a comprehensive survey of them. By Caroline Spencer
When it comes to telling the story of Jersey’s farming scene, the Jersey cow has tended to steal all the glory. Pigs haven’t really had a look-in.
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Jane Aubin wants to remedy that. She is approximately halfway through a comprehensive survey of Jersey’s pigsties, which one day she hopes will form part of a book about pig rearing. ‘I fell in love with Jersey pigsties several decades ago when out for walks,’ she said. ‘They are not just of architectural interest but are also evocative of a way of life, largely lost, where smallholders lived side by side with their livestock, in mutual dependence.
‘So far, I have visited more than 200 properties, of which some 80 have pigsties in good or excellent condition. I reckon I still have more than 300 properties to visit. I have been working on this project in earnest since 2015 when I initially tried to cover the whole of St Lawrence. I chose this parish as it is where I live, and I thought the numbers of sties would be limited. I could not have been more wrong! To date, I have records for around 80 properties just in my parish.
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‘The 1965 Ordnance Survey map is surprisingly accurate in its depiction of pigsties,’ she said. ‘But I also find them by just looking at buildings, estimating their age, and perhaps spotting a feature from the road. For example, this summer, whilst out for a cycle ride, I spotted a granite wall that raised my suspicions. The house was modern but there were these pintles, the hinge for a gate to sit on, and sure enough the person told me ”I heard they used to call this the piggery”.
‘People have been so welcoming and surprisingly interested in what I am trying to do. Many are immensely proud of their pigsties.
‘I would dearly love to collect more anecdotes. The late Nick Blampied, whose father, Thomas Le Quesne Blampied, was the States Vet in the Occupation, told me some wonderful tales. And I know of a German-built sty which has bars on the windows.’
Permanent stone pigsties in Jersey go back as far as the 18th Century.
‘Dating pigsties is exceptionally difficult,’ Jane said. ‘Very few have dates on. Less than half a dozen of the ones I have recorded have a date and those are largely late 1800s, a very few may be 1700s, but it’s a bit of a guessing game.
‘People used granite and brick because it was cheap and easy to get, so they are solid and permanent, unlike in the UK where often pigs would have been housed in wooden structures or loose boxes that have since disappeared. ‘These quite significant buildings started really booming in mid to late Victorian times. It became almost a statement of the importance of someone’s farm.’
Asked if she has a favourite, Jane refers to corbelled sties, which effectively have a stone pyramid as a roof. ‘I have seen just a handful of these but they are beautiful. So much work has gone into them.’
Jane also likes to find out if a farm had a liquid manure system. ‘Quite often you will find massive granite cisterns underground, and at some of the properties, like at La Ronce, a National Trust property, the granite cappings are stunningly exposed.’
Jane has now set her sights on writing a book on the history of pig rearing in Jersey so that it all comes together as one story, alongside her comprehensive database. She says that writers such as Jean Poingdestre (1600s) and Thomas Quayle (1800s) are useful sources for understanding our agricultural history, but there’s not much written about pigs. ‘What I want is for it to create a picture for someone in 100 years’ time. I think it’s important to capture all the information in one place. It’s not been done before… It has always been cows!’
If you have a pigsty or stories to recall, you can e-mail janeaubinhr@gmail.com or call 726187 or 07797 834216.
