Bay House, 12 Tay Street

Bay House at No 12 Tay Street started life as the Maryton Inn. This area of East Newport was developed in the 1820s in response to the demand for housing following the introduction of the new steam powered ferry service. The area was named Maryton, and this house was built as the inn for the area.

Maryton Inn

The houses in Union Street immediately to the rear of Bay House were the stables for the inn, and no doubt the extensive cellar under the building was an excellent storage area. Indeed, the current occupants of Bay House searched every nook and cranny in the cellar, optimistically hoping to find long forgotten barrels of brandy.

The only known tenant of the inn was Mr Thomas Honeyman, who did his best to entice custom to his establishment. Unfortunately, the main route to the ferry pier was not along Tay Street but down Cupar Road, and the inn, being a little way off the main road, failed to attract travellers, who continued to resort to the more convenient and older-established Newport Inn adjoining the old Newport Pier. The Maryton Inn was thus doomed to failure. Mr Honeyman fell into arrears with his rent and was eventually served with a process of eviction.

Both the inn and the stables to the rear were converted to houses in the 1830s. Bay House was used in the 1840s as a manse for the first minister of St Fillan’s Church, which stood further up William Street until being demolished in 1979. The manse for this church was eventually built half-way up Gowrie Street, probably around 1850.

Alterations

It’s interesting to note that at some point in the later 20th century, the dormer windows in the roof were removed, the opposite of what usually happens nowadays. The same happened on the house immediately next door, 10 Tay Street. The dormer windows seen in the two lower photographs are no longer there.