Little Cottage

Little Cottage is a former weaver's cottage, probably dating from the 18th century, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed from coursed limestone rubble under a Cotswold stone tile roof and features an ashlar stack.

The building is a simple rectangle on plan, arranged as a one-up one-down cottage, with a later lean-to privy added to the north-east. The main south-east elevation has a wide doorway to the right, set under a segmental-arched stone lintel. To its left and above are two two-light windows of stone with chamfered mullions. The first-floor window has rectangular leaded lights, while the ground-floor window has three horizontal panes to each light.

Attached to the north-east side of the cottage is a lean-to privy dating from around 1900. Its doorway is positioned against the side of the cottage, with the right reveal formed from very large stone quoins. The door has ventilation holes in the upper half. The wall to the right of the cottage's front door, adjoining the privy, has a slightly buttressed shape. The change in shape and stonework indicates where an adjoining building, probably a weaving shed, was demolished around 1880–1900.

Internally, the ground-floor room has a wide fireplace, partly infilled to either side, and a flagstone floor. An infilled doorway and window opening are in the north-east wall. A trimmer joist in the south-east corner indicates the position of a previous stair, though no stair currently exists in the building. The first floor has a fireplace with a large stone lintel and stone uprights. The first-floor room is open to the roof, which features an A-framed roof truss formed with paired principal rafters and a lapped, bolted-on collar, all later replacements. The purlins and some of the common rafters appear to be from an earlier date, possibly the earliest phase of the building.

Cartographic evidence from Ordnance Survey maps shows that around 1884, the cottage was attached on its north-east side to the north-western corner of a much larger range, probably a weaving shed, running approximately north-west to south-east, with outbuildings attached to the rear. After this, the long range and its southern outbuildings were partially or wholly demolished, and a house called The Knowle was erected over part of its footprint, possibly incorporating part of the earlier building. The Knowle appears for the first time on the Ordnance Survey map published in 1902. At this time, a doorway that formerly gave access to the long range from the ground floor of Little Cottage was blocked up, and the lean-to privy was erected on the north-east side. A window adjacent to this doorway was also blocked. The cottage is now in use as a garden store.