Pictures of this location have been posted on here before, albeit quite a while ago. The contributor has, however, mis-identified (or confused with another) the disused drainage mill. I suppose we ought to be grateful, because people with vandalism in mind seem to never have been able to find it and what we are looking at is dereliction in its natural state.
The drainage pump is one of the older, early 19th century mills situated along this stretch of the river, evidenced by reports that it used to have cloth sails. The location of the scoop will can still clearly be seen but no trace of it remains.
A ruined cottage adjoins at the bottom of the dike. This is a lovely and peaceful spot, provided one likes living in a somewhat remote and isolated location. For the people who once lived here it would not have been a question of choice but rather a matter of practicality, because the cottage was in all likelihood built as a home for the marshman and pump keeper and his family. It is interesting to observe, I thought, how the thatch was laid, and also to see the long stakes that had held it in place still firmly embedded in the rafters.
Needless to say that there appears to have been no mains water supply and no electricity. The largest (and only) downstairs room in the small cottage is the living room which had a big fireplace at one end. Beside it, to the right, is a bricked-in rectangular space, the purpose of which I do not know.
The bedroom was situated in the loft above, with a narrow staircase leading up to it. It would have been cosy and warm up there. There was a kitchen and scullery extension out back, with a privy added at the corner.
View into the kitchen ...
... and out of the kitchen window
The empty privy
When the drainage pump became redundant the family would have moved out. The cottage has been standig empty ever since. It is subsiding and there are large cracks in the walls. The thatch on the main roof is almost entirely gone and the corrugated roof covering the extension has fallen in. Brambles and weeds are growing over the broken and rotting roof timbers, the glassless windows and the flaking paint.
It still is a lovely and peaceful spot.
The drainage pump is one of the older, early 19th century mills situated along this stretch of the river, evidenced by reports that it used to have cloth sails. The location of the scoop will can still clearly be seen but no trace of it remains.
A ruined cottage adjoins at the bottom of the dike. This is a lovely and peaceful spot, provided one likes living in a somewhat remote and isolated location. For the people who once lived here it would not have been a question of choice but rather a matter of practicality, because the cottage was in all likelihood built as a home for the marshman and pump keeper and his family. It is interesting to observe, I thought, how the thatch was laid, and also to see the long stakes that had held it in place still firmly embedded in the rafters.
Needless to say that there appears to have been no mains water supply and no electricity. The largest (and only) downstairs room in the small cottage is the living room which had a big fireplace at one end. Beside it, to the right, is a bricked-in rectangular space, the purpose of which I do not know.
The bedroom was situated in the loft above, with a narrow staircase leading up to it. It would have been cosy and warm up there. There was a kitchen and scullery extension out back, with a privy added at the corner.
View into the kitchen ...
... and out of the kitchen window
The empty privy
When the drainage pump became redundant the family would have moved out. The cottage has been standig empty ever since. It is subsiding and there are large cracks in the walls. The thatch on the main roof is almost entirely gone and the corrugated roof covering the extension has fallen in. Brambles and weeds are growing over the broken and rotting roof timbers, the glassless windows and the flaking paint.
It still is a lovely and peaceful spot.
