The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a house of late 17th and early 18th century origin, with possible earlier foundations. It was significantly altered in the early 19th century for Reverend Thomas Skipwith, and renovated again around 1980. The building is constructed of brick, with rough rendering to the walls and tarred lower courses. It has a concrete tile roof, with plain clay tiles to the bow windows. The design is L-shaped, incorporating a two-room front, a central entrance hall, a kitchen wing to the rear left, and a single-room addition to the front right with a contemporary outshut to the rear.

The main front is two storeys with an attic, and symmetrical with five bays and a lower two-storey single-bay extension to the right. A flight of four stone steps leads to a central entrance, featuring a small oval overlight, a cornice and bracketed hood of late 19th to early 20th century date, and a half-glazed door constructed of six panes over two fielded panels. Fine segmental bow windows are positioned on either side of the entrance, each containing three full-height 12-pane sashes, a continuous sill, stone steps to the central sash with moulded nosing and curtail steps, and a wooden surround of ribbed pilasters topped with bulb finials. The surrounds also feature a panelled frieze with boldly carved cable mouldings and bulb finials, a moulded cornice, and stepped eaves band. The first floor features 12-pane flush sashes. Plain wooden eaves boards are present, and there are end stacks. A central 3-light dormer with glazing bars was added in the 20th century, and the extension has 12-pane sashes to each floor with stone sills. The rear elevation has 12-pane sashes, and a single 20-pane sash to the rear wing, all within flush wooden surrounds.

Inside, the kitchen features a chamfered oak ceiling beam with tongue stops. An open-well main staircase, believed to be from the early 18th century, has a closed-string, corniced handrail, plain newels and turned balusters with slender bulbous details above triple round knops. The front ground-floor rooms showcase early 19th century ornate plasterwork cornices, friezes and ribbed borders to the ceilings; the left room’s ceiling includes paterae at the angles, while the right room’s has pendant balls. Ribbed architraves frame the doors, with carved floral ornament on the left and 6-pointed stars and a Tudor rose on the right. Similar surrounds are found around the bow windows, with beaded skirting and beaded-panel sash shutters. A veined grey marble chimney-piece is found in the right room, while a 20th century fireplace is in the left; both are flanked by basket-arched alcoves. Ribbed door architraves are also found in the stairhall and extension. Six-fielded-and-beaded panel doors are used throughout. Windows in the extension and on the first floor have fielded-panel reveals and shutters with wrought-iron securing bars bearing stamped decoration. Arched alcoves feature in the first-floor front bedrooms. The distinctive early 19th century decorative motifs are similar to those at 5 Cross Street, Crowle.