You’ve heard how modern and spacious our holiday cottages near Bude are in our previous blog, but did you know the actual buildings date back to the 1820’s?
Back then, Glebe House was originally built as an old vicarage to St Bridget’s Parish Church which can be seen across the Devon valley from the main drive and some of the cottages. The cottages were originally used as farm buildings, which explains their names today:
The Old Stables Cottage
As you probably guessed, where horses were kept and still today you can see the markings on the supports where horses have grazed against the building supports. There is also a private cobbled seating area outside the stable which dates to the 1800’s. Today this cottage sleeps 4 people in 1 King Room and 1 Twin Room and has all the mod cons you would expect for a home from home holiday.
The Mews Cottage
This was where the old farm keeper lived. Because of this, the cottage benefits from high ceilings and a fireplace. By the chimney on the roof you can also see two pointy structures which were originally placed to stop the devil from sitting on the roof! The Mews looks out into the communal courtyard and you can just imagine the old farmer looking outside to check on the farm. Today the cottage sleeps four people in 1 King Room and 1 Bunk Room.
Our Granary and Little Barn Cottages
These were originally the Haybarn. If you look at the design of the main window outside the Granary you can see where the old hatch was where the farmers would drop hay from. As well as being a haybarn, we also know that these two cottages have been used as the village hall and we have had residents in the local village who remember having many parties in these buildings. Today Granary and Little Barn are our two largest cottages and both sleep up to 6 people in three bedrooms and two bathrooms. These cottages can also open up together to sleep up to 12 people.
Our Gamekeeper and Poacher Cottages
Finally, these cottages were where the farmer kept Game and pigs. This building was originally single story and if you look carefully at the brickwork you can see where the extension of the building starts. Our Gamekeeper sleeps four people with 1 King Room and 1 Twin Room, and our Poacher cottage sleeps six people in 1 King, 1 Twin and 1 Bunk Room. Again, both these cottages have an interconnecting door meaning that you can sleep 10 people together under one roof. These cottages benefit from stunning views across the Devon countryside.
As Glebe House Cottages was once a working farm there are still features of the farm in the main house that we love to show our guests, including an old Pig salter and some old meat hooks. We also have many old pictures of the farm estate from the Victorian and WW1 era that we are happy to show our guests while enjoying a drink in our cellar bar.
Come and see this beautiful historic estate that’s now a beautiful range of holiday cottages near Bude for yourself. For availability, visit our bookings page on our website.