While searching for information on the abandoned cottage I visited recently I stumbled upon a mention of a walk passing two abandoned cottages, not too far from home.
Using the walk route, I was able to spot on my OS map the building, and last Saturday was able to make a visit.
The photos shown, and more, are best viewed big on a black background here.
The building contains what appear to be two separate dwellings, and conveniently for me, the door of one of these was missing. I walked into a large room, dominated by a bricked in, cast iron stove and fire. Apart from the fire the room was bare, and furniture must have been taken away. I can imagine this being a living room, and while the picture shows what look like a cast iron stove, there was a bigger, brick oven in a back room. Maybe the back room was added on later and this was previously where the food was cooked.
The only other feature in the room is a small cupboard to the left of the stove, built into the wall. Empty now, it is possible to imagine the cupboard being conveniently positioned to hold a few ingredients, or if we are in living room a few treasured items.
The walls throughout the property where covered in cracked plaster, with patches where the wooden lattice beneath could be seen. In one place the plaster was carved with “Michael Cole 1911”. Perhaps Michael was a previous resident?
The second room is narrower, and has two long shelves down the wall. Looking at the shape, I think it was too narrow to be a room where people would have spent much time, so maybe it was just for storage?
Looking up, little floor remains on the first floor, just the beams the floorboards would have been laid on. On the side of the beams were occasional hooks. Perhaps these were convenient for hanging a light.
Through the floor boards the upstairs door can be seen.
Leaving the first room be a door at the back of the building we enter a third ground floor room in a single story section of the house. Here we find another brick stove and a back door. Outside here is an old iron pump for water.
The second dwelling is a mirror image of the first, but has not had the benefit of the roof being repaired. As a result a number of trees have grown inside the building, poking their tops above the roofline.
In the wall between the two homes are a series of holes. I cannot see any clues as to what these were for, but maybe they held some furniture, perhaps shelves or a sideboard in place?
I was able to leave through the front door of the second home I explored. The door, wile weathered, still latched and swung smoothly. Looking back I can see a view into the home a view that perhaps previously welcomed a farmer or farm hand? The main room at the front of each house appears to be the living room, so perhaps in place of the dirt floor we can now see, there may have been an arm chair by the fire?
Any comments on the photos or ideas for similar sites in the South West Midlands welcome, thanks for looking.
Teccie bits: All photos taken on an Olympus E510 with either Sigma 30mm F1.4, Zuiko 11-22 F2.8-3.5 or Zuiko 70-300mm lenses. Processed with photoshop CS2, using PT Lens to remove distortion from the wide angle shots, and a few levels adjutments. Black and White conversion contrast adjusments and split toning in Silver Efex Pro, and final cropping in Lightroom.
Exploring Photography 