Summary
House, dating to at least the mid-C17, with later additions, subdivided into multiple dwellings between the mid-C19 to late C20.
Reasons for Designation
Little Primmers, Wadhurst, Wealden is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* dating to the mid-C17 or earlier, the original three-room arrangement remains legible.
* it retains a significant amount of early building fabric including the remains of timber-frame walls and the queen-post roof, as well as a substantial off-centre chimney stack.
Historic Interest:
* it illustrates well local vernacular building traditions with evidence of approximately C17 joinery, as well as with the later alterations including the underbuilt brick ground floor and the pre-1850 extensions which also reflect changing living standards and requirements.
History
Little Primmers retains historic building fabric which dates to at least the mid-C17, including rootstock jowled posts and the empty mortice holes for a diamond-set square-mullion window. The building was extended to the rear with a series of cross wings which were in place by the Parish of Wadhurst Tithe Map (1839), when the building is shown as a single dwelling. The ground floor was underbuilt in brick. By the late C19 the building had been divided into two dwellings and by the 1930s it had been subdivided further into three dwellings. Later in the mid-C20 the building had reverted to being two dwellings. It was later converted back into a single dwelling. In the latter half of the C20, a flat-roof single storey extension was added to the rear, and further small extensions were added to the rear and south side. Almost all of the windows were replaced in 2017 with double-glazed timber units. In 2019 another small single-storey rear extension was added and internal alterations were made.
Details
House, dating to at least the mid-C17, with later additions, subdivided into multiple dwellings between the mid-C19 to late C20.
MATERIALS: the earliest range incorporates a timber-frame; the ground floor has been underbuilt in brick and the first floor has been clad in hung tiles and weatherboarding, all under a half-hipped clay-tile roof with a brick stack. There are later timber-frame and brick additions to the rear and south sides.
PLAN: the earliest rectangular single-pile range is on the west side of the building; it appears to have originally had a three-room, lobby-entrance plan, with the entrance later relocated from the west, to the south and east elevations. There are three, two-storey cross wings and single-storey additions to the rear.
EXTERIOR: a two-storey dwelling topped by a half-hipped roof with a large off-centre ridge stack. Almost all of the windows have been replaced with C21 double-glazed timber-casement units. The ground floor has been underbuilt in brick, predominantly laid in Flemish bond. The brickwork on this level is of at least two phases. There is no evidence of an entrance in the probable original location on the west elevation, below the main stack, suggesting the entrance had been relocated by the time the brickwork was undertaken. The west elevation has an irregular fenestration, within three narrow windows on each floor, including a long ground-floor five-light window near the middle. The first floor has been faced with hung tiles. The north return has further ground and first-floor windows; the first floor is clad in weatherboarding. The south return includes a truncated lateral brick stack, and there is a lean-to stretcher-bond brick porch beneath which is the current main entrance. The first floor is tile hung and there is a single-glazed timber multi-pane window adjacent to the stack. To the rear are three, pre-1839, two-storey pitched-roof cross wings. The northern cross wing is built of stone and brick on the ground floor and all the cross wings are clad in weatherboarding at first-floor level. There is also a square flat-roof single-storey C20 extension, and further single-storey C20 and C21 lean-tos which are of lesser interest.
INTERIOR: the original range’s former three-room plan remains legible, with a north-end room, off centre stack, and knocked-through central and south-end rooms. The north end has ceiling joists and an off-centre cross beam (cut through at its east end). The former east wall has been knocked through to provide access to the later cross wing; the wall retains elements of timber-framing including a wall plate and posts. On the north side of the off-centre stack is a brick fireplace with a timber bressumer; it has been modified to include a modern cooking range. On the south side of the stack is a substantial brick inglenook fireplace. Sections of brickwork on both sides of the stack have been rebuilt. The inglenook is topped by a chamfered-and-stopped bressumer and to one side is a metal door that opens onto a domed circular bread oven; below the oven is a large stone and a low brick-arched opening. On the west side of the stack is a cupboard with a timber doorway with an early plank door; this appears to be in the location of the original lobby entrance. The former central room retains a substantial chamfered-and-stopped ceiling beam with chamfered-and-stopped joists; some joists have been replaced. To the south is a cross-axial beam, part of the former partition between the central and south room; it includes empty mortices, and at the east end are the remains of an arched door frame with a jowled post. There are long, thin timber lintels over the windows in the west wall. There is evidence of timber framing within the former east wall of this original range; this includes empty diamond-set square mortices which indicate the location of a former window. To the east of the original range is a corridor, incorporating the current entrance. To the east of this corridor are the later additions.
A straight-flight staircase with a winder at the top, located within the south cross wing, leads up to the first floor. At first-floor level, the original range retains further timber-framing which has been cut into to create a side corridor on the east side and provide access to the later additions. The surviving frame includes pairs of jowled posts, stud walling, wall plates, at least one arched brace in the former east wall, straight braces, and ceiling beams. There are also internal timber-frame partitions and tie beams which incorporate the remains of various timber door frames and arches; two early doorways retain two-plank doors. There are later timbers within parts of the two-storey cross wings. The roof over the original range retains elements of a timber-pegged half-hipped queen-post roof frame. This includes the two principal trusses with queen posts, collars and principal rafters, as well as a pair of clasped purlins. The common rafters and collars are a combination of earlier timbers and later replacements. There is also a central lathe and plaster partition and the tapering top of the main stack.
