Disused Cottage To Northwest Of Kelgernyk Near Higher Beeny

This is a disused cottage located to the northwest of Kelgernyk, near Higher Beeny, likely built in the late 17th century or early 18th century. It is constructed from slate stone rubble and quartz, topped with a rag slate roof that has gable ends, although many of the slates have slipped. A stone rubble stack is positioned on the left-hand gable end.

The cottage features a rare one-room plan. The entrance, accessed through a porch to the left of center, leads directly into the ground floor room, which is heated by a fireplace located in the left-hand gable end. A window stair in the rear right-hand corner provides access to a single chamber on the first floor. A small lean-to outshot, dating from the late 18th century, has been added to the rear left, and the porch is also likely a late 18th-century addition.

The building is two storeys high with a single window front. It has a stone rubble gabled porch to the left of center and a 6-pane window to the right with a timber lintel. The first floor features the remains of a 19th-century 2-light casement in a half dormer with a raking roof. The rear wall shows signs of masonry that has partly fallen.

Inside, the fireplace in the left-hand gable end has a slightly chamfered timber lintel and remnants of an opening for a cloam oven in the left-hand side wall. A stone rubble winder stair in the rear right-hand corner rises by a quarter-turn to the first floor. The ground floor has 19th-century ceiling beams, while the 3-bay roof structure was renewed around the late 18th century, with the apices of the principals lap-jointed and pegged, and the collars pegged to the face of the principals.

Despite being in relatively poor condition, the cottage remains particularly unspoilt and is a rare example of a plan type that is rapidly disappearing in Cornwall due to its modest status.