The Dutch Cottage is an octagonal-shaped cottage located in Rayleigh, Essex. It is both the smallest and the oldest council house in the United Kingdom, and takes its name from the association of this type of house with the seventeenth century Dutch immigrants who constructed many of the sea walls of the south Essex coast.
The cottage's history is the subject of dispute. Above the front door is an inscription which reads "1621", suggesting its year of construction. Nevertheless, surveyors, architects and historians who have studied the cottage have opined that it was not built until the eighteenth century, more specifically around 1740.
The unusual octagonal structure is said to serve several functions. It is strong, relatively easy to thatch, and provides the occupants with a more panoramic view. Also, for the superstitious, the lack of right angles prevented evil spirits from lurking in wait around a corner.
Owners Rochford District Council opened the cottage to residential tenant applicants in 2008 for £75 per week in rent, on condition that they would make the property available for pre-arranged guided tours every Wednesday afternoon.
Famous quotes containing the words dutch and/or cottage:
“Too nice is neighbor’s fool.”
—Common Dutch saying, trans by Johanna C. Prins.
“It might be seen by what tenure men held the earth. The smallest stream is mediterranean sea, a smaller ocean creek within the land, where men may steer by their farm bounds and cottage lights. For my own part, but for the geographers, I should hardly have known how large a portion of our globe is water, my life has chiefly passed within so deep a cove. Yet I have sometimes ventured as far as to the mouth of my Snug Harbor.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)