Bridge Cottage

A Memory of Bedwas.

Dear Tina,
Re Bridge Cottage/House
We re-named Bridge House when we bought it in 1977 to save it, as it was one of the few and oldest Welsh long houses in the area. It was boarded up vandalised and was about to be demolished to make a larger car park for the Bridge End Inn.
We re-named it Bridge Cottage as the original Bridge Cottage that stood on the opposite side of the road had been demolished as part of the road improvement for the Bedwas Bypass and the it was more in keeping as a 'cottage' than a house.
It was previously a catogory three listed building but the catogory three listing protection had been dropped and that was why it was possible to demolish it!
We had started the Bedwas and Trethomas Conservation Society to try and involve the community in improving the area, as a result we tried to get the protection for Bridge house reinstated but we were unsuccessful as none of the official bodies were prepared to save it! In the end (even though we had a young family) my husband and I took the decision to buy it ourselves and undertake the major renovation task.
Many of the old extentions built over hundreds of years had to be demolished as they were in a poor condition. This has revealed the oldest part of the cottage
cc 1650. We passed on the items that we found to the Caerphilly Historical Society, when we moved with my husband's work in 1980.
I have a lot of information about its past. I will write to you another time.
Regards Carol Bright