Wheal Maria Cottages

A row of ten paired cottages, built around 1870. The cottages are constructed of slatestone rubble, rendered on the sides and front, and have hipped slate roofs with a central stack providing heating for each pair. Each pair is semi-detached and has a double-depth plan, with a front and rear room heated by the central stack, and access through a side porch. Behind each pair is a small, single-storey outhouse.

Each cottage front is two storeys high with two windows. These are 2-light casements with 8 panes, set beneath granite lintels on the ground floor. The sides of the cottages have gabled porches with a shouldered head above the opening, with a recessed area for house numbers to the side of the doorway. There is also an opening to the side of the porch which may have originally been designed for a 2-light casement, but now contains a narrow single light. The rear of the cottages has two windows; 2-light casements on the first floor, and horizontal sliding sashes on the ground floor. A granite water trough is centrally placed at the rear of each row, with a small, single-storey outhouse behind.

The cottages are largely unaltered and represent one of the best-preserved examples of purpose-built mining accommodation in the area. Alterations include the removal of the porch from number 6, the addition of a half-glazed door at the rear; replacement windows at ground and first floor front at number 7; a C20 ground floor sidelight at number 8; a porch with a hipped roof and a C20 sidelight at number 9; a rebuilt, larger porch at number 16; and the removal and replacement of the porch at number 20 with a rear door. Despite these alterations, the row of cottages remains unusually intact. The interior was not inspected.