Littleton Wood Farmhouse

Littleton Wood Farmhouse, now two dwellings, dates back to around 1500, with extensions added in the 16th and mid-17th centuries. The farmhouse is constructed of rubble stone, with sections of timber framing and brick nogging, and has a stone slate roof with coped verges. Brick gable end stacks are also present. It has a rambling L-shaped layout, consisting of a hall range with added wings. The south front is two-storey and has three windows. A four-panelled door, situated in a chamfered surround, is accompanied by a lean-to porch to the left, while a variety of windows, including two-light and three-light cyma-mullioned casements, are located to the right. The first floor has a two-light ovolo-mullioned casement over the door, and further two-light and three-light cyma-mullioned casements to the right. The return to the right features a two-light recessed chamfered-mullioned casement and a 20th-century door leading to a 16th-century linking wing. A parlour, dating from around 1600, projects to the left of the front, originally a stable, with recessed chamfered mullioned casements to the south gable end, a blocked door on the east side, and a lean-to addition to the left return. A 19th-century canted bay with margin-pane French windows is located to the left return of the main range. The rear of the building has restored leaded casements to a timber-framed gable, with a blocked door to the left. The early 17th-century parlour range at the rear incorporates four-light ovolo-mullioned casements with king mullions and hoodmoulds to the ground and first floor of the rear and east gable end, a three-light mullioned casement to the attics, coped verges, and a stack at the west end. A single-storey outhouse extension is attached to the rear right.

Inside the hall range, there is an open fireplace with a chamfered lintel at the west end, and chamfered beams to the inserted ceiling. The chamber above has a Tudor-arched stone fireplace. The roof over the former open hall consists of smoke-blackened collar and tie-beam trusses, with a closed truss separating the open hall from the two-bay eastern service end. The short north wing features a framed newel staircase with closed strings, splat balusters, square newels with finials and a moulded handrail, likely dating from the late 16th century. The 17th-century parlour wing possesses a Tudor-arched stone fireplace with a moulded cornice, a fine plaster ceiling with thin moulded ribs, geometric, floral decoration and moulded roundels, an ovolo-moulded doorway with a planked and ribbed door with ornamental strap hinges, and a first-floor chamber with a Tudor-arched stone fireplace and cornice. This wing also has collar and tie-beam trusses with chamfered purlins.

The original house began as a timber-framed hall house of late Medieval date. In the 16th century, service extensions were added, and a staircase constructed in the north wing. The hall was ceiled, and partially rebuilt in rubble stone. A parlour was added to the south in the early 17th century, followed by a mid-17th-century stone parlour wing to the north. The south wing later became a stable. The property was owned by the Long family from the Dissolution. An inventory from the Wiltshire Records Office, detailing goods belonging to Henry Long of Littleton Wood Farm at his death in 1612, provides historical context.