Building record MHG17851 - Workers Cottage, Castlehill Pavement Works

Roof of dwelling recently fallen in and general condition of building is poor. There was a noticable bulge in NE wall. The rubble used is waste material from the flagstone works. The piece used for the extension are thinner than those used for the main body of the building. The floor throughout is flagstone. The roof is of graded flagstone with a dressed stone ridge cover. The building has not been used as a dwelling since about 1940 but has since been used as an animal shelter and a store <1>.

Photo in generic number for works. Part of the Castlehill Pavement Works Trail area, but heavily overgrown, ruinous without roofs etc <2>.

A ruinous cottage used to house the workers of the Pavement Works, a long building of uncertain purpose and a small outbuilding. The area to the north and east of this set of buildings appears to have been artifically landscaped and raised, screening the spoil heap to the north and the main working area to the east. The raised ground would also offer a degree of shelter from the elements. The working area to the east is accessed via a short tunnel.
All of the buildings are roofless and are in a poor state of repair, although some interesting features do survive, such as some wooden sash and case window fittings. The most northerly building has had a small extension added to the west gable end but the current length of the building may have been the result of several separate episodes of enlarging the building. Few of the cross walls survive to their full height; some loft windows are evident and ground level doorways linking the individual rooms are common <3>.