Giffard House

Giffard House, built between 1727 and 1729, was originally a townhouse, attributed to the architect Francis Smith, for the Giffard family of Chillington Hall. It is now the presbytery for the Church of St Peter and St Paul and was originally used as a priest’s house with a private chapel for the Roman Catholic Church. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings, topped by a hipped tiled roof with a flat centre and two substantial brick stacks. Its original plan was double-depth.

The main, east front is in an Early Georgian style and three storeys high, with a five-window arrangement, a top cornice, and quoins. The windows are set within brick segmental arches with fielded-panelled keys and have horned sashes with moulded frames; the ground floor windows have 15 panes, the first floor 12, and the second floor 9. The centre bay windows are accentuated with architraves and keystones. A large four-fielded-panel door is framed by an architrave with a keystone and features a six-pane over-light. Rainwater heads with a monogram and the date 1728 are visible on the elevation, along with square down-spouts. To the left return are chapels built in 1828 to designs by Joseph Ireland, who subsequently enlarged the chapels and attached them to the rear west side of the house. A housekeeper's cottage, dating to the 1930s, is attached to the right.

Inside, the entrance hall features an elaborate open string staircase with fielded dado panelling, three barley-sugar column-on-vase balusters to each tread, and a ramped handrail. Ground floor carpentry includes deep skirtings, architraves to door surrounds, and raised and fielded panels on doors and linings. The primary room on the left of the entrance hall has full-height raised and fielded panelling and matching boxed shutters to the windows. The fireplace, possibly altered later, has a surround of blue and green marble with a moulded timber shelf. A door at the far end of this room leads to the Church of St Peter and St Paul (listed separately), which is attached to the rear of the house and incorporates the location of the former private chapel. The upper floors have not been inspected.