Little Fairwood

Little Fairwood is a house with origins in the late medieval period, significantly remodelled around the late 16th century, and with a late 20th-century re-roofing and some replacement windows. The external walls are whitewashed plaster on a cob construction, with a tiled roof that is gabled at the ends (formerly thatched). There are axial stacks with brick shafts—one central and one projecting from the rear. The building has a plan of four rooms deep, with a cross passage. Originally, it was an open hall house, potentially with a two-story inner room on the left. This hall was likely divided by a tall partition, featuring an open hearth on the left side. The lower end of the house, to the right, was probably first floored over, receiving a rear lateral stack and a newel staircase at the rear, before the rest of the house was internally floored and an axial stack was inserted, partially across the passage. A further room was added at the right end during the 18th century. A 19th-century staircase has been added to the rear of the passage. The front facade is asymmetrical, with five windows and two gabled dormers on the first floor. A central front door opens into the cross passage, with a projecting semicircular bread oven to the left. A second doorway is located at the right-hand end of the building. Some casement windows retain small panes, others are 20th-century replacements. A surviving medieval four-light timber mullioned window, with diagonal stops on the mullions, is blocked on the rear wall. Internally, some 16th-century features remain, while others are likely concealed by plaster. A lower end room contains a chamfered cross beam with bar stops, and a rear right timber newel stair with oak treads. The hall features a chamfered cross beam with step stops. Sections of the original medieval roof are preserved, including a jointed cruck over the hall, with a threaded ridge and trenched purlins, though the collar beam is no longer present. Some smoke-blackened rafters are visible. A notable feature is a first-floor plank and muntin oak partition above the partition within the cross passage. Fireplaces have 20th-century grates, likely concealing earlier features. The house occupies an attractive location, and the survival of the medieval hall window on the rear wall is particularly remarkable.