Littleacres

Littleacres is a house dating from around 1570, with alterations made in the 20th century. It is timber framed, plastered, and has a roof made of handmade red clay tiles. The house has four bays facing southeast and features an axial stack located in the second bay from the left end. At the rear, there is an 18th or 19th-century lean-to extension that has been incorporated into a 20th-century wing, along with lean-to extensions on either side.

The building stands two storeys tall. On the ground floor, there are two 20th-century oriel windows, while the first floor has three 20th-century casement windows. A plain boarded door is set within a gabled porch, also from the 20th century. The original sprockets are visible below the eaves, and there is an under-built jetty with a groove for sliding shutters at the right end.

Inside, the house features chamfered axial and transverse beams with well-cut lamb's tongue stops, which are early examples of their use. The joists are plain and have a horizontal section. There is a blocked stair trap in the rear left corner, jowled posts, and close studding with curved braces that are trenched to the inside. A blocked window with a shutter groove is found in the rear right corner, likely retaining its original mullions. The wallplates show edge-halved and bridled scarfs.

The roof structure includes a crownpost roof with thin axial braces to the right of the stack, with the collar-purlin chamfered and featuring step stops. To the left of the stack, there is a clasped purlin roof. The original wood-burning hearth on the right side is made of 0.33 metre brickwork, while a smaller 17th-century wood-burning hearth on the left side measures 0.23 metre and has a curved back with a wrought iron trammel. The original rebated floorboards remain intact.

The combination of lamb's tongue stops on the beams and step stops in the crownpost roof is of particular interest, allowing for a close dating of the house. Littleacres has an unusually complete range of original interior features.