The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a house dating back to the 14th century, with additions from the 17th century. It is built on a sandstone plinth with a cruck frame, and has rendered walls and a plain-tiled roof, hipped at the north-west end. Two internal stacks of red brick are present. The original layout comprised a north-south range with a cross-passage set away from the hearth, and two later gabled wings at the rear. The house is one storey with an attic. Modern gable dormers with wood casements are visible. The ground floor features late 20th-century bow and canted bays on either side of the doorway, which leads to the former cross-passage. A small casement window is located at the north end, and a modern door is set within a single-storey, 20th-century porch at the south-east end.

The interior retains two full cruck roof trusses, representing the original open-hall house, both with closed walls. The north truss was likely the original gable end, while the other forms the end wall of the open-hall. Purlins extending beyond these trusses suggest a further bay of the original open-hall layout. The crucks rest on a sandstone plinth, joined by a yoke surmounted by a King-post and a flat ridge piece. One pair of blades features a rail, partially removed to create a doorway. The roof structure includes principal rafters, paired and curved wind bracing (laid one over the other, secured by pegs), and inclined purlins housed in shallow trenches. A lower spur carries the end of the principal rafter. The timbers are largely un-moulded, but retain a chamfer. The end bay was probably floored when constructed. The King-post is longer than at The Bothie, Botts Green, Over Whitacre, while the yoke appears shorter than the collar or tie-beam at Priory Farmhouse, Bixhill Lane, Shustoke. The house is notable as the birthplace in 1605 of Sir William Dugdale, the antiquary.