Bay Bush

Bay Bush is a cottage, likely built in the early 18th century. It is constructed of cob on stone rubble footings, with a whitewashed and rendered exterior and a thatched roof that is gabled at both ends. The cottage features a left end stack with a brick chimney.

The layout consists of a one-room plan, part of a row of cottages, with a winder stair located next to the stack. The ground floor has been altered, likely in the 20th century, into a large heated room at the front and a narrow service room at the back. The first floor has also been divided. There is no clear evidence that this cottage was connected to the building on the right (north-west), but a blocked doorway on the first floor indicates it was once linked to the building on the south-east.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical front featuring two windows. The front door is positioned at the far right. To the left of the door is a 6-pane fixed window from the 1970s. The first floor has a small two-light stair window to the left and a 20th-century two-light timber casement with glazing bars to the right. The rear elevation includes a late 18th or 19th-century two-light small pane timber casement.

Inside, the ground floor has a chamfered axial beam and an open fireplace with sandstone jambs, a timber lintel, and remnants of a bread oven. The roof structure, which has not been fully inspected, shows straight principal rafters and purlins on the first floor, suggesting it dates from the 18th or early 19th century. This cottage remains a rare example of an unspoiled one-room plan in the country.