Care home · Colchester
The Cottage Residential Care Home
Typical fee here £1,350–£1,650 a week Estimate
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Illustrative photo, not of The Cottage Residential Care Home- Address
- 51 High Street, Brightlingsea, Colchester, CO7 0AQ
- Run by
- Mr Roy Bellhouse
- Type of provider
- Independent (owner-run)
- Service
- Residential care home
- Beds
- 10 (registered with CQC)
- Nursing care
- No, residential care only (CQC registration)
- Dementia
- Registered with CQC to support people living with dementia
- Registered with CQC
- January 2011 (15 years)
- Registered manager
- Roy Bellhouse
- Last CQC check
- 15 Sep 2025
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,350–£1,650 a week for residential care (dementia). Our figure, worked out from published prices in the region; the real price may differ. How we estimate
Registered activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care
More in Brightlingsea: Care homes in Brightlingsea (12) · Best rated care homes in Brightlingsea · Care homes for dementia care in Brightlingsea · Care homes for learning disability care in Brightlingsea · Care homes for mental health care in Brightlingsea
Read the full CQC inspection report · CQC location ID 1-130187505
Introducing The Cottage Residential Care Home
Registered with CQC as a residential care home, The Cottage Residential Care Home is based in Colchester, run by Mr Roy Bellhouse. Its registered specialisms include dementia, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health conditions.
Its latest CQC rating is Inadequate overall (September 2025). Safe and Well-led were rated Requires improvement or Inadequate. It is one of 12 CQC-registered care homes in and around Brightlingsea; 9 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Scores behind the rating
CQC's single assessment framework gives every quality statement a score out of 4, then reports each key question as a percentage. Averaged across the five areas, The Cottage Residential Care Home scores 55%.
Safe 25%
- Learning culture1 · Significant shortfalls
- Safe systems, pathways and transitions1 · Significant shortfalls
- Safeguarding1 · Significant shortfalls
- Involving people to manage risks1 · Significant shortfalls
- Safe environments1 · Significant shortfalls
- Safe and effective staffing1 · Significant shortfalls
- Infection prevention and control1 · Significant shortfalls
- Medicines optimisation1 · Significant shortfalls
Effective 75%
- Assessing needs3 · Good
- Delivering evidence-based care and treatment3 · Good
- How staff, teams and services work together3 · Good
- Supporting people to live healthier lives3 · Good
- Monitoring and improving outcomes3 · Good
- Consent to care and treatment3 · Good
Caring 75%
- Kindness, compassion and dignity3 · Good
- Treating people as individuals3 · Good
- Independence, choice and control3 · Good
- Responding to people’s immediate needs3 · Good
- Workforce wellbeing and enablement3 · Good
Responsive 75%
- Person-centred Care3 · Good
- Care provision, Integration and continuity3 · Good
- Providing Information3 · Good
- Listening to and involving people3 · Good
- Equity in access3 · Good
- Equity in experiences and outcomes3 · Good
- Planning for the future3 · Good
Well-led 25%
- Shared direction and culture1 · Significant shortfalls
- Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders1 · Significant shortfalls
- Freedom to speak up1 · Significant shortfalls
- Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion1 · Significant shortfalls
- Governance, management and sustainability1 · Significant shortfalls
- Partnerships and communities1 · Significant shortfalls
- Learning, improvement and innovation1 · Significant shortfalls
How to read the numbers: 4 exceptional, 3 good, 2 some shortfalls, 1 significant shortfalls. Published by CQC, assessed 22 July 2025, published 15 September 2025 under the Open Government Licence; a blank score means the statement was carried over unchanged.
Rating history
- Apr 2016
- Mar 2018
- Dec 2018
- Sep 2025
- Today Rating 1 year old
CQC rating timeline for this address. The latest rating is lower than the one before.
Inspection reports to read
- CQC inspection report 11 December 2018
- CQC inspection report 22 March 2018
- CQC inspection report 13 April 2016
- Inspection report 12 August 2014
- Inspection report 16 November 2013
- Inspection report 6 December 2012
Food hygiene
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 22 September 2022 by Tendring. Try to visit at a mealtime: it shows how food, choice and help with eating work in practice.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "The Cottage"). Open Government Licence.
The neighbourhood
- Ward
- Brightlingsea
- Council
- Essex County Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Harwich and North Essex
- NHS planning area
- NHS Essex Integrated Care Board
- Area classification
- Larger rural, nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 50% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in CO7 (19)
View on OpenStreetMap · How to get there · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors
Close by
- Bus stop 110 m (1 min walk) · 10 stops within 600 m
- GP surgery Colne Medical Centre, 490 m (6 min walk)
- Pharmacy Boots, 210 m (3 min walk)
- Shop Tesco Express, 270 m (3 min walk)
- Park Lower Park Playing Field, 840 m (10 min walk)
- Café River Colne Cafe, 230 m (3 min walk)
- Place of worship St James' Church, 190 m (2 min walk)
- Library Brightlingsea Library, 200 m (3 min walk)
Distances are as the crow flies, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); real walking routes will be longer and may include hills or busy roads.
Ward and NHS boundaries from official postcode data, Open Government Licence.
Who the service is registered for
From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.
The registered provider
The Cottage Residential Care Home is the only service its provider, Mr Roy Bellhouse, runs, so it is an independent, single-site operator rather than part of a chain.
The Cottage Residential Care Home over the years
Registered in January 2011, it has 15 years on the CQC register.
CQC has published 4 overall ratings for it (2016–2025), starting at Requires improvement; it has gone up 1 and down 2 times, and is now Inadequate.
Reports on record: 6, with the most recent dated 11 December 2018.
The inspection, summarised
- This assessment was carried out on 23 July 2025 in response to information we received about the service and in relation to people’s safety.
- The Cottage Residential Care Home is a 'care home'.
- People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care.
- Not everyone at the service was able to speak with us.
Inspected 16 November 2018; report published 11 December 2018; supporting 6 people at the time. Taken from CQC's own findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
The five key questions
- Safe25% score4 of 365 in Essex
- Effective75% score327 of 365 in Essex
- Caring75% score341 of 365 in Essex
- Responsive75% score323 of 365 in Essex
- Well-led25% score6 of 365 in Essex
CQC key question ratings, published 15 September 2025. Under each rating: how many care homes in Essex share it.
Around Colchester
There are 11 other care homes within 3 miles, 9 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is Four Winds, under 0.5 miles away.
It is registered for needs that fewer services nearby cover: dementia (8 of the nearest 25); mental health conditions (6 of the nearest 25).
4 of the 25 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Brightlingsea ward, classed by ONS as larger rural (nearer to a major town or city), among the 50% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Essex ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (6 min), a pharmacy (3 min), a shop (3 min), a café (3 min) and a bus stop (1 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
Likely fees
We estimate The Cottage Residential Care Home at £1,350–£1,650 a week for residential care (dementia), based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £70k–£86k.
Ask what notice is given before a fee increase and what triggers one.
People with savings under £23,250 may get help from Essex Council after a needs and financial assessment.
Reading The Cottage Residential Care Home's CQC ratings
For The Cottage Residential Care Home, Safe and Well-led are rated below Good; 3 other areas are Good.
Across Essex, 4 of 365 rated care homes are Inadequate for Safe (1%), while 6 of 365 rated care homes are Inadequate for Well-led (2%).
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Caring at 75% and its lowest is Well-led at 25%, averaging 55% overall.
If you are considering it, read the Safe and Well-led section of the report first and ask what has changed since the inspection.
Family reviews
No reviews yet. If you or a relative have used this care home, your review helps other families choose.
We check every review against a working email address and publish positive and negative ones alike; providers can reply but cannot remove them. Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. How reviews work.
The Cottage Residential Care Home in local context
- Rated Inadequate. Across Essex, 84% of the 364 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 7 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (September 2025) is more recent than 82% of care home ratings in Essex.
- With 10 beds it is smaller than 63% of care homes in Essex, where the typical home has 22.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 69% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 4 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Essex lists 3.
- Areas CQC rated below Good: Safe (20% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here); Well-led (23% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.
Comparison set: every registered care home in Essex, CQC data for Oct 2026.
Nearby options
Guides for families
Other care homes near Brightlingsea with recent ratings
- Stronvar Rest HomeMay 2026
- SilverspringsMay 2026
- SilverspringsApr 2026
The Cottage Residential Care Home: common questions
- What are The Cottage Residential Care Home's fees?
- The Cottage Residential Care Home has not published its fees with us. Residential care home typically costs £1,455 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in East of England). Ask for written prices covering weekends, bank holidays and any travel or set-up charges.
- How did The Cottage Residential Care Home score on each CQC key question?
- The five CQC areas: Safe: Inadequate; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Inadequate. Start with Safe and Well-led when reading the report.
- How many residents can The Cottage Residential Care Home take?
- The Cottage Residential Care Home can take up to 10 residents. Ask what is free now and about en-suite rooms.
- Which provider runs The Cottage Residential Care Home?
- Mr Roy Bellhouse is the registered provider for The Cottage Residential Care Home.
- Is The Cottage Residential Care Home registered for dementia care?
- Dementia appears among its CQC specialisms; ask about staff training and how care adapts as dementia progresses.
- When did CQC last rate The Cottage Residential Care Home?
- CQC published the current rating on 15 September 2025, 1 year ago. Older ratings are common, so ask about changes since.
- What kind of care can The Cottage Residential Care Home offer?
- Its CQC registration covers residential homes. Ask The Cottage Residential Care Home how it would adapt if needs increase.
- Where is The Cottage Residential Care Home?
- It is at 51 High Street, Brightlingsea, Colchester, CO7 0AQ.
- Is The Cottage Residential Care Home registered with CQC?
- Yes. The Cottage Residential Care Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a care home (location ID 1-130187505) and was rated Inadequate overall in September 2025.
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In Essex
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Source: the CQC register as of Oct 2026 (Open Government Licence v3.0), with our own analysis. Anything marked "in the provider's own words" comes from the provider. The Care Panel does not provide care.