The chance to offer Squatters_Cottage for sale is certainly one of the most unusual instructions we have received at John Goodwin.

A squatters cottage, or hovel, was established when encroachments made by squatters on common land could be legally acquired by the occupants. Very few have survived but this one is noted on the 1814 enclosure map and is constructed with a timber frame supporting wattle and daub panels and a thatched roof, currently preserved beneath a corrugated iron roof. This particular hovel, known as Squatters Cottage, has been in the ownership of the current family for over 100 years and is reputed to have been won in a bet.

The property has lain almost undiscovered for decades and is hidden away in a lightly wooded area of approximately 1 ¼ Acres in a secluded yet convenient location only two miles north of Ledbury on the edge of the village of Wellington Heath.

The property is a Grade II listed building and planning permission was refused in November 2005 in response to a comprehensive redevelopment scheme.  Further discussions held with the Planning Officer for Herefordshire Council have resulted in an indication of support based on a very contemporary proposal prepared by architects Stainburn Taylor of Ledbury.