Bothy

This is a circa 18th-century bothy, a small, simple two-roomed dwelling built of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern and originally covered by a thatched roof. It is located on George Street in Maulden.

The exterior features a hipped roof to the south and a half-hipped roof to the north. There are entrances in the east and west elevations, each with a plank and batten door. The front elevations contain one window to the east, two to the west, and a single window in the south gable end.

The interior is divided by a timber-framed partition with a tie beam at the top. A section of the partition's central timber between two uprights is missing, but wear on the sill marks the former door location, and mortices in the beam indicate the positions of further posts. At the north end of the building is a brick fireplace flanked by shelved cupboards. The central portion of the bressumer, which appears to have been damaged by fire, was cut out and replaced with brick. A lathe and plaster ceiling now covers the original roof, though the wall plate remains visible and the loft reveals a limewashed wattle and daub roof construction.

The site was marked on the 1797 Enclosure Award map, where the plot of land numbered 79 was recorded as 2 roods and 29 perches belonging to the Town Estate, a Maulden charity that provided assistance to the poor and funded the upkeep of the church. The building was likely originally timber framed, with the brick walls replacing this structure in the 19th century. Originally open to the roof, the interior was later ceiled over. Further 19th or 20th-century alterations include the brick fireplace, likely installed after a fire damaged the original bressumer, traces of which remain. The cottage’s last occupancy was in the 1950s.

The Bothy is designated at Grade II for being a rare surviving example of a very humble 18th-century dwelling, and for the survival of many original internal constructional details, including its plan form and materials.