Little Burne Farmhouse

Little Burne Farmhouse is a circa mid-17th century farmhouse, with alterations dating to the 1960s. The construction is of rendered cob on stone rubble footings, with a concrete tile roof (formerly thatched). It features an axial stack and projecting end stacks, although the shaft of the left-hand end stack has been dismantled. The original plan comprised three rooms and a through passage, with the lower end located to the left. The hall was heated by a stack backing onto the passage, and there was an inner room. A rear right outshut, with a catslide roof, was added later. The original location of the staircase is uncertain, possibly near the lower end stack (which has a rounded corner), although the recess is now partly filled by a large bread oven. Most of the roof trusses date from the 1960s, replacing the thatch, while earlier trusses have straight principals suggesting a roof replacement in the 18th or 19th century.

The farmhouse is two storeys high and has an asymmetrical four-window front. A 20th-century front door leads to the passage, positioned slightly off-centre, with a gabled porch canopy. A doorway leading into the right-hand (inner) room was present prior to the 1960s alterations. The windows are mostly 20th-century casements with metal frames. The rear elevation, facing the road, has a half-glazed door to the passage and two small timber first-floor windows.

Inside, the hall retains one cross beam and two half beams, elaborately-moulded, with the stops lost in the wall plaster, and a 20th-century grate which may conceal earlier features. The passage has a chamfered step-stopped half beam and an oak plank-and-muntin screen to the lower end, with chamfered step-stopped muntins. The lower end room remains largely complete with a chamfered step-stopped cross beam, exposed joists, and a fireplace said to be intact behind later plaster. Historical records indicate that Little Burne was the site of the accidental death of Edward Gibb, commemorated by a headstone in the churchyard. Photographs taken by A. W. Everett in 1961, which are in the possession of the owner, show former ornamental plasterwork in the room above the 17th-century hall, featuring floral designs and armorial bearings including the initials K. W. H. and K. G. V. H.