LITTLE HUCKLOW : ITS CUSTOMS AND OLD HOUSES. 59 



of the limestone of the district, with quoins and windows of 

 ashlar. Its two best windows are in a broad east gable end. 

 Half the south side is a blank wall, and part of the circum- 

 ference of the stair-turret projects from that side. The build- 

 ing is uninjured by modern change, and nearly in the same 

 condition as it was when it left the builders hands. In a 

 panel over the lower east window is the legend "A. P., 1661,' 

 the initials standing for Adam Poynton.* For the last year or 

 two I have used this place as a summer residence. Little as 

 it is, we have managed to squeeze ourselves in, and we regard 

 it as a stone tent on the moors where fresh air and open 

 windows make us forget the luxuries of the town. Here, if 

 anywhere, a man can lead " the simple life " ! 



The interest attaching to this building lies in the fact that 

 it reproduces in the seventeenth century a type of dwelling- 

 house which prevailed in the fourteenth century and earlier. 



The plans will show the sizes of the rooms. The house- 

 place, or hall, is entered by a door on the north side, exactly 

 opposite the winding stair, the door being protected by a 

 screen, formerly known as a " spere," with an inner door. The 

 passage thus formed is here called the lobby. Above the 

 lobby is a cupboard which serves as a receptacle for hats, etc. 

 This room is 8 ft. high. The rafters which support the 

 floor above it are of oak, resting on the north and south walls 

 and on a large oak beam which crosses the room from east 

 to west. The beam is neatly moulded, and rests on stone 

 corbels. The south window is recessed at a height of 3 ft. 4 in. 

 from the floor, and its stone mullions are elegantly moulded. 

 The small west window has no mullions, and appears to be of 

 more recent date than the other windows in the house. The 

 " spere " also api>ears to be modern, as one or two of the old 

 inhabitants say that they can remember when it was put up 

 thirty or forty years ago. The stone projection, i ft. 6 in. 

 high and 9 in. broad, next to the east jamb of the fireplace, 



* I have had a search made at Lichfield down to 1700 for his will, but 

 nothing was found. In 1658 Hercules Poynton and his daughter paid is. 8d. 

 for Easter dues. — Dcihyshire Archtcoloqha7 Joiintal, XI., p. 28. 



