Little Court

Details

SX 88 NE
3/122

DODDISCOMBSLEIGH
DODDISCOMBSLEIGH
Little Court

II

Former farmhouse. Late medieval origins, remodelled and extended in the C17, some
C18 rebuilding, roof raised in the 1960s. Colourwashed rendered cob and and stone ;
tiled roof (thatched until the late 1960s), gabled at left end, hipped at right end,
gabled at end of wing ; projecting stone end stacks with rendered shafts, cob axial
stack with rendered shaft.
Plan: Overall L plan : a three room and through passage main block, facing east, with
the lower end to the right, hall stack backing on to passage ; front right wing at
right angles to the lower (north) end. The house originated as a late medieval open
hall : a blackened truss survives over the lower end and the remains of a second trus
over the hall, interrupted by the inserted hall stack. The third truss over the
inner (south) room is C18 and the house may have been rebuilt or extended at the
south end. The medieval building was probably floored in the C17 and may have had a
newel stair adjacent to the stack. Both the lower end and inner room stacks appear
to be later. The one room plan unheated front right wing is probably also C17, with
accommodation over a service or semi-agricultural room. The main range has a
probably C18 or C19 outshut behind the hall and inner room.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window front, with a C19 plank and stud door
with a conical thatched porch canopy to the front of the passage to the right,
adjacent to the crosswing. 3-light C20 timber casements, except the hall window which
is a C20 metal-framed casement in an enlarged embrasure ; 2-light chamfered mullioned
timber window above front door. The inner return of the wing has a 2-light ground
floor C20 window to the left, replacing a former door (information from owner), a I-
light C20 ground floor window to the right and a 3-light ovolo-moulded C17 mullioned
window to the first floor. The outshut has a C19 or C20 casement on the inner return
with probably earlier external timber stanchions and a plain 4-light mullioned rear
window, originally unglazed.
Interior: Lower end plank and muntin screen to passage, the muntins chamfered with
diagonal stops on the hall side, plain muntins on the lower end side, doorway in
screen moved and old doorway blocked with horizontal boarding. Section of plank and
muntin screen on the hall side with chamfered diagonal stopped muntins and a good
shoulder-headed doorframe. Exposed chamfered joists to passage with runout stops.
The hall has a chamfered crossbeam with step nick stops and a partly rebuilt open
fireplacewiith a timber lintel with masons mitres. Rough exposed joists to the
inner room, fireplace blocked. The lower end room has a partly blocked fireplace
with a probably C19 timber lintel and a replaced crossbeam ; chamfered square-headed
doorframe to wing.
Roof: Blackened.truss over lower end and remnant of a second similar truss adjacent
to the stack. The principal rafters are crucks of some kind (feet plastered over),
cranked collar to northern truss mortised into principals, the former ridge was
diagonally-set and threaded. X apex pegged truss at south end. Truss over wing not
fully accessible at time of survey (1987).
An evolved,house of medieval origins.
Photograph of the building when thatched showing the former doorway to the wing in
the possession of the owner.

Listing NGR: SX8550786691

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

85643

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.