The Big House

The Big House is a timber-framed farmhouse, now a house, dating from 1631, with later additions and alterations, and restored and extended in 1924. The building is constructed with rendered infill and a planted timber frame in imitation, and has slate roofs with lozenge-shaped patterns to the hall range and cross-wing. The hall range comprises two framed bays, with a gabled cross-wing projecting to the left, and a full-height gabled range projecting to the right, forming a present H-plan.

The cross-wing has close-set vertical posts with a middle rail, and is jettied to the first floor and attic, featuring carved corner brackets. Similar framing appears on the porch and a gabled full dormer to the right of the hall range, the latter with billet moulding to its bressumer. The porch gable features a king strut and herringbone braces, and the gables of the cross-wing and dormer have 20th-century pointed finials. The ground floor of the hall range is rendered, and throughout are 20th-century latticed casement windows: one of three lights on each floor to the cross-wing, with small two-light flanking mullion windows to the ground floor, one of two lights to the first floor of the porch, and one of three lights to the dormer, which is paired with a segmental-headed three-light window below. The porch has an inner, nail-studded plank door with pointed strap hinges. Red brick ridge stacks are directly above the hall range and integrated to the left end, both with dentilled capping. The initials “ILL 1631” are displayed in raised lettering to the dormer’s bressumer, and repeated in 20th-century lettering to the cross-wing’s tie beam. A gabled timber-framed dormer is visible in the rear roof slope to the right. A two-storey gabled addition to the right, with a planted timber frame, has four-light latticed casement windows on each floor and a contemporary red brick ridge stack. The initials “HI 1924” are displayed in raised lettering to the tie beam.

Internally, the building has been altered in the 20th century, but the hall range retains two chamfered spine beams with flat, heavy joists in the room to the right of a large stack. This stack has a richly moulded overmantel to an infilled inglenook fireplace. Short, jowled wall posts apparently support the ceiling, and are reported not to continue through to the first floor. The cross-wing also boasts chamfered ceiling beams and flat, heavy joists. An inspection of the first floor was not possible during a resurvey in June 1986.