Squatters Cottage At National Grid Reference Sj6764105978

Squatters Cottage, built in 1797, features early and mid-19th century extensions. Constructed from coal-measure sandstone and brick, it has a plain tile roof that is hipped at the right end, with brick stacks at the left end and rear. Originally designed as a single-unit plan, it was later modified into a three-unit layout. The cottage is single storey and has two doorways located to the centre left and left side. It includes a two-light casement window adjacent to the centre doorway and another similar casement to the right. The left doorway and a blocked opening have lintels made from iron plateway rail. There is a very small extension at the rear.

Inside, the cottage features corner fireplaces, with the right room containing a small early 19th century cast-iron grate. The central room has a recess that includes a blocked smaller arched opening. The cottage was built by Robert Bayley, who likely constructed it himself. In 1797, he was fined six pence for "an encroachment upon the Lord's waste" due to building the cottage near Stocking Bridge. This land is situated between the former Shropshire Union Canal and Woodlands Lane. Squatters Cottage is a rare and largely unaltered example of a squatter's cottage, typically built by miners or industrial workers in the Coalbrookdale coalfield, who would occupy waste land and pay an annual fine to the landowner.