The smallest house in England may be no des-res, but it's home-from-home for stained glass artist Rod Beaumont.

He will be spending most of his time in the 11ft by 7ft 5in bijou property at Leeming, near Oxenhope, where he has set up his studio.

Rod will be keeping his lunch warm in the original cast iron oven called Little Dorritt - believed to be the only one of its type still working in England - and cleaning his artists' tools in the old stone sink.

The 131-year-old house, appropriately named Little Dorritt, is so small that two's a crowd when his 51-year-old partner Maggie Gregson joins him to sell the trinkets she has set up in the corner.

Rod, 54, who used to work for The Glaziers Trust at York Minister, helping to repair and restore the ancient stained glass, will be producing his own glass and paintings.

"It's a fantastic place. I'm already enjoying it," he said.

"I've had to strip the oven down and get some small repairs done, but it goes really well.

"I've even kept some pies warm in there," added Rod, who is now looking for other craftspeople who want to sell their pieces from the studio.

Maggie and Rod, who live in Oxenhope, paid £5,000 for the one-room residence, which is believed to have been originally built by a retired dragoon guard.

"There's no running water or conveniences," said Rod. "In the old days, according to the deeds, there was a midden nearby but that's long gone."

Maggie was the driving force behind buying the property, which still has an original gas light and Victorian ceramic coat rack.

"I think it's lovely - and I thought it would make an ideal studio for Rod," she said. "We're so glad it's being used again - it's not been in use since 1968. Local people are really interested and are happy that we're breathing new life back into the building.

"Some people in the village have never even been inside it."

The last owner was Ellison Stirk of Shipley, who lived in Leeming when he was a lad and bought the building in 1968.

But coincidentally, the first name on the original conveyance of 1871 was George Gregson - no relation to Maggie.

Mr Stirk said he was pleased the building had been put back into use.

"Over the years it was used for a number of things. It was a rent office for the Leeming estate until the 1940s and at one time someone made lead soldiers there.

"When I got it, I cleaned out some old motorbikes and left it as it was."

*The unique oven is believed to be named after the Charles Dickens book Little Dorrit, which he wrote in 1857.