The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a priest's house with a core dating back to the 15th century, significantly remodelled around 1600 and again in 1778, with a restoration around 1980. It is constructed primarily of red brick, now rendered, with sandstone quoins to the lower part of the east wing, and has a plain tile roof with coped verges and brick stacks. The building has a traditional H-shaped layout; a central hall range of three bays aligned east-west faces south, with remnants of a former cross passage entrance at the west end and a chimney stack at the east end. Flanking this are crosswings, each also of three bays, aligned north-south.

The north elevation features the central hall range flanked by projecting gabled crosswings. The house has two storeys and an attic, with a 1:2:1 window arrangement. Most windows are 18th-century glazing bar sashes, with the wings featuring Venetian windows on the ground floor. A six-panelled door is located to the right of the hall range, within a stone surround from around 1600, featuring an 18th-century fanlight with radiating glazing bars cut through the lintel. The south elevation mirrors the north, with a similar window arrangement. A half-glazed door to the left of the hall range also has a stone surround and an 18th-century fanlight. A large canted bay window has been added to the east side of the east wing.

The interior’s Hall occupies the entire ground floor of the central range, and incorporates reused timber, notably a 15th-century cross beam on the line of the former screen to the cross passage. This beam has a double-ogee and concave quarter circle moulding facing the upper (east) end of the room. A stone fireplace of around 1600 is located at the east end of the hall and exhibits an ogee and concave quarter circle moulding with a Tudor arch and sunken spandrels. The hall range is roofed with 17th-century queen strut trusses. In the west wing, the ground floor rooms have chamfered and stopped cross beams and flat joists, likely dating to the 15th century; the chamfer stops of the northernmost set of joists are embedded within the north wall. The east wing contains a staircase from around 1800, with cast iron stick balusters and a wreathed hand rail. The roof of the east wing retains a 15th-century clasped purlin structure with cambered tie beams and raking queen struts extending to the collars. Many of the 18th-century windows throughout the house still have panelled wooden shutters.