Ivy Cottage in Saughall Massie, a 336-year-old property described as "quite unlike any other in the Wirral", has gone on sale with a guide price of £699,950.
The cottage, between Moreton and Greasby, dates back to 1690, when the village was little more than a sparse scattering of farmhouses. A partial cruck frame - a curved timber supporting the roof - indicates that part of the building dates from much earlier times.
History and heritage
According to the Saughall Massie Village Conservation Area Society and an archaeological survey from the 1990s, the earliest evidence for a building on the site appears in the survey of the Manor of Bidston, made by Lord Kingston in 1665. The earliest reference to the cottage was made two years earlier in 1663, when it was assessed for the "hearth tax", an archaic property-based wealth tax on fireplaces in homes.
The archaeological survey commented: "Ivy Cottage is a building of character and is quite unlike any other in the locality and possibly in the Wirral and beyond. It is the second earliest domestic building surviving in Saughall Massie but the least altered from the seventeenth century."
Ownership and village growth
The cottage was originally held by Edward Wainewright, Lord Kingston's tenant of "the house stead, barne, garden, orchard and croft", and passed through a number of different families over the years as the village expanded.
The population of Saughall Massie was recorded as just 98 in 1801; by 1901 this had risen to 186. The village remained largely agricultural throughout the early 20th century. After the Second World War, many of the farm buildings were demolished and replaced with houses. In 2005/6, a village by-pass was built to improve traffic flow, and a one-way system introduced over the Saughall Massie Bridge.
Ivy Cottage is a Grade II listed cottage, extensively rebuilt by the current owner while retaining its original character. It is marketed by Rostons.
