Old Vicarage

The Old Vicarage is a house dating back to 1668, incorporating earlier remains, possibly from the 16th century. It is constructed of sandstone rubble with a stone slate roof at the front and a slate roof at the rear. The building has a central entrance plan, with end stacks and a single-storey porch. It is two storeys high. The windows are double-chamfered with mullions. To the left of the porch is a four-light window with a hood; a similar window is situated to the right of the porch. On the first floor, a four-light window sits to the left, a two-light window is located near the middle, and a reconstructed two-light window is on the right. The porch has a stone slate roof with a finial; some of its stonework shows 19th-century tooling, but the wide, chamfered outer doorway features a lintel with a false four-centred arch. The inner chamfer doorway has "1668" incised on its lintel. The right-hand (east) gable has two blocked, chamfered one-light windows on the first floor. The rear wall also possesses double-chamfered mullioned windows, with hoods to those on the ground floor. To the right is a window originally of four lights, now reduced to two mullions. Towards the middle is a two-light window, with a modern extension to the left. On the first floor, there are two two-light windows and a four-light window to the right. The interior features a reconstructed spiral stone stair in a lobby. The internal walls are timber-framed, with chamfered wooden doorways with triangular heads leading off the lobby to the left and right. The right-hand front room contains a moulded, shouldered stone fireplace with a cornice mantel and a lintel featuring moulded panels and a fluted false keystone. The left-hand room has a projecting chimney breast and a modern fireplace. On the first floor, the left-hand partition wall displays herringbone bracing to the studs, with a king post rising from the tie, visible in the attic; it also has herringbone bracing. The right-hand truss has raking queen struts. A tie beam is braced downwards to a jowled post, just visible above the stair. This configuration hints at the possibility that the house was originally timber-framed and subsequently encased in stone. Until 1811, the house served as the Chipping vicarage; John Wesley stayed there and preached in 1753 after being denied access to speak in the church.