Little Heath Farmhouse

Little Heath Farmhouse is an early 17th-century farmhouse, substantially remodelled in the late 17th or early 18th century, and again in the 19th century, with later additions and alterations. The construction is timber-framed with painted brick infill, painted uncoursed limestone rubble, and brick painted to imitate a timber frame, all beneath graded slate roofs. The original house appears to have been a T-plan, consisting of a hall range aligned east-west with a gabled cross-wing projecting to the west. The cross-wing was removed above tie-beam level and incorporated into a larger 19th-century range, also aligned east-west. A rubblestone range runs at right-angles to this, to the south. The hall range is one storey and attic, while the 19th-century range is two storeys.

The hall range displays square framing panels, three from cill to wall plate, on its front and rear elevations. The 19th-century range has a light timber frame, including a long, straight tension brace on the north side. Brickwork on this range is painted black and white to resemble timber framing. The north side of the farmhouse features C20 fixed-light windows to the hall range and C19 casement windows on each floor to the left of the 19th-century range, with a small C19 window directly below the eaves to the right and a C20 fixed-light window on the ground floor. Red brick ridge stacks with dentilled capping are located centrally on the hall range and in two sections on the 19th-century range. A full-height brick lean-to extends from the angle between the ranges, and a C19 brick lean-to is attached to the rear of the hall range.

Inside, the hall range includes a chamfered spine beam and heavy joists to the left ground-floor room. A large central stack holds an inglenook fireplace with an infilled surround. A dairy occupies the right front room. An oak winder staircase leads to the first floor, which has wide boarded oak floorboards and a collar and tie beam truss to the left. The higher range displays chamfered ceiling beams on the ground floor, dating from the original cross-wing. Exposed principal rafters and collar of a roughly central collar and tie-beam truss – visible on the first floor – demonstrate that the range incorporates substantial remains of a gabled cross wing aligned north-south.