Handley Oak

Handley Oak is a house, originally a mid-16th century farmhouse that was later divided into three cottages. It has undergone alterations and additions in the 20th century. The house is timber framed and sits on a stone plinth, with a wooden shingle roof and a brick ridge chimney. The original plan included a cross passage behind a stack, with a parlour wing added later. The front of the house, which is two stories high and three bays wide, features a left-hand bay under a gable. This bay has heavy, small timber framing with a 20th-century three-light casement window, the upper one set into a coved jetty and bearing the painted date 1601. The remainder of the front is close studded with a middle rail, also featuring similar windows, two blocked doorways, and a dormer window. Inside, the main room to the left of the cross passage is accessed through a four-centred headed doorway and separated by a heck post and screen. A fire beam is covered with bead moulds, and within the inglenook is a blocked three-light wooden mullioned window. The parlour has a deeply chamfered ceiling beam with a tongue stop. Wind-braced purlins are visible on the upper floor.