THIMBLE HALL

18th century Thimble Hall stands behind Conduit Head in Youlgrave and was originally a one-up, one-down cottage with a ladder for a staircase; no bathroom or kitchen nor even running water and said to have been home to a family of eight around a hundred years ago. It was last occupied as a dwelling in the early 1930s by a brother and sister known as Charlie and Jinnie Frisky (not their real surname.)
The tiny building has been used as an antique shop, butcher’s and a cobblers.
A Guinness World Records Certificate names Thimble Hall in Youlgrave as ‘the world’s smallest detached house’ at 11ft 10 in x 10 ft 3 in and 12 ft 2 in high. The property made national headlines in 1999 when sold at auction for £39,500. Bids came in by telephone from Hong Kong, Athens and New York but even Uri Geller was outbid when the hammer fell to Frederick’s of Chesterfield, ice cream manufacturers.

Each room is less than 8 feet square and there was a fixed ladder to the bedroom and a stone fireplace, also exposed beams and exposed floorboards in the bedroom.
Today it is a Grade II listed building.