Little Seaside Farmhouse

Little Seaside Farmhouse

A farmhouse probably dating from the early-to-mid 16th century, substantially refurbished in the early-to-mid 17th century, and renovated with an extension around 1982. It stands on a hillslope facing south-west, built primarily of local stone and flint rubble. The front features sections of squared Beerstone blocks laid to rough courses, while the rear includes some cob. The stone rubble stacks are topped with 19th and 20th century brick, and the roof is thatched.

The house is arranged as a five-room plan running across the slope. It is two storeys tall, with gable ends to the left and a half-hipped roof to the right. The front elevation is irregular, presenting six windows of 19th and 20th century casements with glazing bars, along with two front doorways, both secondary insertions. The left doorway, leading into the former kitchen, contains a 20th century French window. The right doorway, opening into the former parlour, contains a 19th century plank door set in an early-to-mid 17th century oak crank-headed doorframe, likely relocated from the original front doorway which is now blocked by the window between the two present doors. The left end room has a gable-end stack, though this is a 20th century insertion. The right end room is the circa 1982 addition and contains an axial stack.

The origins of the building lie in an open hall house of uncertain layout, dating from the 16th century. The house was fundamentally rearranged during the early-to-mid 17th century refurbishment. The kitchen now occupies the position of the former hall, though the location of the original passage remains unknown. Some curious straight joints are visible in the front wall masonry but do not clarify the 16th century arrangement. The roofspace is inaccessible, so it cannot be confirmed whether the original house had an open hearth fire, though smoke blackening is suspected in the kitchen, where the fireplace dates to the early-to-mid 17th century.

Interior features include chamfered crossbeams with scroll stops in the kitchen. The large kitchen fireplace incorporates an oven, and a 17th century lobby entrance was positioned at the front end of this stack. A 16th century oak plank-and-muntin screen runs across the back of the stack and into the parlour; its original central doorway was blocked by the kitchen fireplace, and a new crank-headed doorway was cut through to the 17th century lobby. The joists oversailing the screen show evidence of an internal jetty arrangement into what was originally an open hearth before the kitchen stack was constructed. Another oak plank-and-muntin screen stands at the opposite end of the parlour, with a chamfered crossbeam featuring bar-scroll stops.

The parlour's back wall contains a relatively small Beerstone ashlar fireplace with richly-moulded jambs; the lintel soffit has been cut back. Alongside this are a pair of crank-headed doorways: the larger leads to the stair, the smaller to the cupboard beneath it. At the head of the stairs are a further pair of crank-headed doorways opening into the former principal chambers. The partition between these chambers, and another across the back of the hall stack, are oak-framed. A plastered partition between the kitchen and the unheated room is non-structural and does not sit directly beneath the chamfered crossbeam there, which retains a couple of run-out stops.

The roof is carried on side-pegged jointed cruck trusses, including a particularly wide bay over the kitchen and former hall. The roof structure is probably 16th century in date, though confirmation is not possible due to the inaccessible roofspace. The building was altered somewhat when converted to cottages in the 18th or 19th century but remains substantially an early-to-mid 17th century house.