This perfect lavoir could be nowhere else but Jersey. Deepest Jersey, in the parish of St Martin on a typically drizzly Friday morning. All you could hear at this spot this morning was the gentle sound of the stream as it merrily ran into the communal washing place and thence onwards, under the lane and cottage opposite and eventually to Queen’s Valley Reservoir.

See how well and unobtrusively the lavoir has been maintained down perhaps 200 years.

The lavoir will have been originally constructed by the landowner for use by family and neighbours, the latter perhaps expected to pay a small fee. In the near silence this morning it wasn’t difficult to imagine the local women, now long forgotten, catching up on the gossip as they did their weekly wash.