Listed Buildings Advice - Thimble Hall

Thimble Hall, located within the Peak District National Park, is in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the smallest detached house in the world”. It is a rare house-type, a humble, single-bay width house, built on a narrow, medieval building plot.

There are many listed “buildings at risk” which share similar problems due to their small size. They include follies, ice-houses, dovecotes and small former industrial buildings. As historic buildings of traditional local materials they are expensive & uneconomic to maintain because their original use is often redundant.

Mel Morris was asked to work with the project architect to prepare a justification statement for the restoration of the building and an extension at the rear.

We prepared an economic justification, looking at the cost of maintenance and repair, and an Options Appraisal which considered potential income generation from different uses and the impact of each use on its character; storage, residential, museum, retail and mixed use. This showed clearly that it was beyond economic repair and that only an imaginative and creative solution could create a viable use.

For details of the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register click here