(Scheduled in the 1974 Village Plan as a building which the Secretary of State had agreed to include in the statutory list)
(Scheduled in the 1974 Village Plan as a building which the Secretary of State had agreed to include in the statutory list)
By the mid-1990s it was semi-derelict ~ there was plumbing only on the ground floor kitchen and in the bathroom that the Army had installed during the war. Electricity extended to part of the first floor and no further.
Plumbing, central heating and wiring were installed in 1997, along with damp-proofing, a new roof and top floor ceilings. The original roof beams were hand-carved oak in excellent condition, as were some of the windows and their frames.
In 1998, the barn was converted into a self-contained studio, and was found to contain the remains of three oven entrances. One of the barn walls, which defied drilling, turned out to be over four feet thick, and the floor level was below that of the house, presumably to make for easier loading of heavy sacks of flour. All attempts to remove a stout metal spike failed, until the later removal of a Victorian fireplace uncovered the other end of the "spike" as a bar across the depth of a much earlier fireplace, used for hanging pots.
The family who live here are in the habit of calling out on coming home, to find out if any other member of the family is in. The unfamiliar voice which occasionally replies is the ghost "of a woman in her 40s, dressed in a full length skirt, white shawl and tied back hair. ... we have all got quite used to her voice now. We have not seen her clearly although she has been seen by some standing by or going in or out of the back door."