Little Court Including Railings And Gate To Front Garden

Little Court is a house with associated railings and gate, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, with a significant remodelling and refronting in the 18th century. The house is a timber-framed structure, originally with a rendered finish, but now mainly refronted in red brick in a Flemish bond pattern. It has a plain tile roof. The front range is two storeys and an attic, comprising seven bays arranged as 2:3:2. Gabled cross wings extend to the rear. The central entrance is a 6-panel door set within a pedimented doorcase supported by consoles. Windows are sashes with glazing bars, set in reveals with sills beneath cambered, gauged brick arches. An eaves band and parapet run along the top of the front elevation. Flat-roofed dormers with sashes and glazing bars are visible in the attic. A large, off-centre ridge stack is present, and another stack is located to the right; it is said that this stack was originally flanked by mullion windows on the gable end, although these are now concealed. A rear cross range to the south has a 20th-century square bay with unequal sashes and glazing bars, and a modillion cornice. An external stack is a feature of the gable of this wing. Two low, gabled rear ranges are also present; the range to the left, which contains the staircase, has a sash window with thick glazing bars. A further lower gabled range to the north incorporates later buildings. A single-storey, 20th-century linking range connects the two cross wings. The interior retains 18th-century features, including an entrance hall with paired arches featuring keyed archivolts on fluted pilasters, leading to a staircase with ramped dado panelling and twisted balusters to the first floor. A panelled room to the right features a fireplace with an eared surround incorporating Greek key ornament, a dentilled cornice, and a panelled overmantel. Another panelled room is located on the first floor to the right. A replica of the clasped purlin roof of the front range was constructed following a fire in 1982 which destroyed the original. The railings and gate, dating back to the 18th century, are constructed of red brick and wrought iron. They consist of a low dwarf wall supporting railings with spearhead bars and standards topped with urn finials. A matching gate with dog bars completes the arrangement.