History

The Moulin de Lecq is one of Jersey’s best-known pubs. Originally a water mill, it is now a bar and restaurant.

Now the manager, Ken Jenkins, has put is trying to restore the old water wheel attached to the side of the bar, which gives the place its name.

The Moulin de Lecq has had a number of extensions over the years, but the oldest parts date back to the 12th century.

Ken said: “Last year, we invited over an expert from the UK who the national trust. He did a full review of the wheel and compiled a report to work to so we can work out how to fix a 12th century waterwheel.”

Overgrown: The Moulin water duct

Occupation

During the war, the Germans occupied the Moulin de Lecq and used the wheel to power searchlights for the island.

This slightly bizarre piece of trivia has inspired Ken to look into the possibility of using the wheel to provide electricity to the pub

He said: “It was bunch of German tourists who pointed out that many pubs in Germany used water wheels for this purpose.” 

Ken has been managing the Moulin de Lecq for just over 4 years and believes the wheel wasn’t used for at least 5 years before he took over.

Ken continued: “I would guess it is probably about ten to fifteen years since it was used.

“If had a penny every time someone asked when will the wheel going to start working that would have got me all the funding I would have needed to restore it.

“It is something that many returning visitors to the island like to come back to visit.

“The wheel is loved by the area and it is quite special to me as well. I would love to be the person to try to get it working again."

Impressive: the water wheel's mechanism

Former glory

Standing at 22 feet in diameter it is no small task, but Ken is hopeful it will regain its former glory.

According to our expert from the UK, we do have enough water to power the wheel. The reason the wheel is so big is that the larger the wheel the less water is needed to power it.

Ken said: “What we would like to do is replace all the spokes, tidy up all the metalwork, and replace the ducting in a sympathetic way, so it looks how it did all those years ago.”