Cliff Cottage

Cliff Cottage is a small house built around the early 19th century. It is constructed from slatestone rubble with granite quoins and features brick arches with projecting keystones. The roof is made of slurried scantle slate and slopes lower to the rear, where there is a continuous integral outshut. The house has brick chimneys on the gable ends and a lateral chimney in the middle of the rear wall.

The layout consists of a two-room central stair plan, along with two integral service rooms at the rear. The building stands two storeys high and has a symmetrical three-window front facing southwest. The central doorway features a four-panel door, with the top panels later glazed. There are shallow arches above the openings, and the original 16-pane hornless sash windows remain, except for two replacement copies on the left side.

While the interior has not been inspected, it is reported to be little altered. Cliff Cottage is part of a group of four similar houses built under a three-life lease system, and as of 1985, it was still occupied by a member of the same family. Under this lease system, a piece of waste ground could be obtained for a nominal rent, allowing the lessee to build a house with the understanding that upon the death of the longest-lived of three selected individuals, the property would revert to the original owner. Leases could sometimes be renewed for a fee. The cottage is an unspoilt example within a harmonious architectural group, overlooking a beautiful and unspoilt stretch of Cowlands Creek.