Little Orchard

Little Orchard is a detached cottage dating back to the 15th century, with alterations made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The exterior is constructed of dressed limestone, with some timber framing retained at the rear, and has a thatched roof with brick stacks. It is a four-bay former hall house with a one-bay solar at the west end, presenting a gable end to the road. The cottage is single-storey with an attic, featuring four windows on the front elevation. A planked door is set within a lean-to tiled porch. To the right is a single-light window and a two-light casement, incorporating a small leaded fire window. To the left are three two-light casements. The attic has three two-light casements and one three-light casement within eyebrow dormers. The right return reveals a two-light casement to the first floor, along with evidence of a former roofline and raised eaves at the rear. The left return displays an exposed cruck with collar, and a lean-to extension with a slate roof. The two-storey rear elevation features a planked door in a gabled porch with a two-light casement, a latticed leaded casement, and a blocked doorway to the right; a two-light casement is situated to the left. Two right-hand bays are timber-framed with brick nogging and incorporate single and two-light casements. The first floor on this return has leaded casements.

The interior includes ground floor deep chamfered beams and exposed joists to a 17th-century inserted ceiling across the hall. The centre room features a beam with a moulded soffit, possibly dating to the late 16th century, along with some wainscot panelling. The kitchen, located at the east end, has an open fireplace with a chamfered lintel on stone jambs, which is a 17th-century addition. The attic reveals a four-bay raised cruck construction, with three eastern bays formerly open to the roof and displaying smoke-blackened timbers and open trusses. The open truss on the east has a truncated raised cruck with a small cruck truss above; the middle open cruck truss has arch-braced cranked collar with chamfered soffits, and was formerly over the hall; the closed cruck truss to the west has a cranked collar and ridge carried on a saddle. Curved windbraces are visible in all bays. This is an important surviving cruck-built hall house, originally timber-framed and subsequently remodelled during the late 16th and 17th centuries. It is one of several in the area and is comparable to Juniper Cottage, Burcombe Without.