Little Creech (Royal Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Centre)

Little Creech, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Centre, is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid 17th century, with remodelling and extensions made in the late 18th century, as indicated by a datestone from 1783, and alterations in the 19th century. The building is constructed of rendered stone and features an asbestos slate roof with Hamstone coping on the gable ends; the rear pitch is clad in concrete tiles. It has axial and gable-end stacks with rebuilt brick shafts.

The layout consists of a three-room plan with service rooms in a rear outshut and a cross-passage to the right of the central room. Originally, the house would have had a lobby entrance in front of the axial stack, situated between the central hall/parlour and the kitchen on the right, which has a large gable-end stack. In the late 18th century, the house was refenestrated, the eaves were raised, the roof was rebuilt, and an outshut was added across the back. During the 19th century, a cross-passage was inserted through the kitchen, and an outshut was constructed at the right (east) end.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical three-window south front arranged in a 2:1 pattern. It features Hamstone three-light mullion windows with iron casements. There is a cross-passage doorway to the right of centre, which has a cambered arch and a panelled and glazed door. On the first floor, to the right of centre, there is a stone tablet inscribed BI:IM:DB:1783. At the rear (north), the roof extends down as a catslide over the outshut.

Inside, the right-hand room (kitchen) has been reduced due to the insertion of the cross-passage. It features a chamfered cross-beam over the passage partition and a very large fireplace with chamfered stone jambs, a large chamfered timber lintel with step stops, a shelf on brackets, pegs above, an oven, and a curing chamber, along with a blocked newel staircase beside the stack. The central room (hall/parlour) has chamfered cross-beams with cyma stops and a large stone fireplace with chamfered jambs and a cyma-moulded timber lintel. The left (west) room has no exposed features. The 18th-century roof has tenoned purlins with collars pegged to the faces of the principals.