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Cottages are so quintessentially British that it’s hard to call one to mind without simultaneously thinking about steaming cups of tea, lawn tennis and consolatory conversations about the weather. These small, modest dwellings found in rural settings and boasting pre-modern architecture are the cosy cousins of Britain’s stately homes and palaces. But though they are smaller, they should be regarded as no less significant symbols of the nation’s proud history and heritage.

While it is true that “cottages” these days can be rather vast and grand, presenting more like imposing houses, this is a far cry from what the true meaning of a cottage was. Back in the Middle Ages peasant farmers were known as “cotters”, hence “cottage” to denote the small humble spaces in which they lived. That said a cottage would also include a small barn and yard, which is not necessarily the case today.

Britain’s Industrial Revolution, which began in the 1780s but didn’t reach full throttle until the late 1830s, provided much employment for workers in weaving, mining and the thriving railway system, for example. These jobs would come with digs – typically