Derelict Farm Worker's Cottage, Colyford, Devon

This is a bit of a mystery. I was told that it used to be a cottage belonging to a nearby farm. But it's so overgrown during the summer that only the roof can be seen, and appears to be extraordinarily tiny. However, exposure during the winter reveals more to this building than meets the eye.

I'd often noticed it while going past on the bus and one day on the way home I decided to cut short my journey to investigate.

Despite the frustration of too much undergrowth and not being able to get a proper look all the way around, or clear photos of some of it, it was a lovely little mooch and some intriguing detective work. The undergrowth was far worse than it looks on the photos - a machete would have been helpful! - and was mostly impassable, but it was fun trying and I managed to get through from the side.

Interestingly, I've since discovered that very old farm buildings that we today would consider tiny, were home to quite large families. There are remains of these - sometimes just the basic foundations - dotted around the Devon countryside and usually hidden from view in small woods and coppices.

However, what appeared to be tiny was, in fact, only part of an altogether larger structure. The rear wall is over twice the length of the frontage and only the rear and end walls of the right-hand side of the cottage still remain.

 

 

It was walking behind the rear wall that made me realise the building was longer than appeared at the front. The above photos show the end of the rear wall, which was as far as I could go...or wanted to, in case I fell down into what looked like a steep pit the other side.  

 



















 

The other oddlty is a small porch-like structure at the rear of the building. There's no access between it and the building, and I did wonder if it was originally an outside toilet. But, I now realise that it must have been the porch entrance to the front door, taken off and dumped at the back when the frontage was either demolished or became unsafe.

With the front more exposed during winter, and by wriggling through some of the hedge at the front, I could see that the right end wall of the intact part of the cottage was once inside, and could see the rear wall of the right side. It's impossible to explore that side due to the coppice of trees and brambles which have grown up and around it. Also there is the considerable drop to the same level of the ground floor or a cellar beneath, which I thankfully managed to avoid falling down!

 

It can't be seen on the photo, due to the intense undergrowth, but there is a door halfway up the erstwhile inside wall. 

  
Altogether a nice little mystery and a rather interesting explore, despite the struggle through the undergrowth to see it. Then a nice walk of just over a mile home and a well-deserved cuppa.