Prior'S Manse

A house dating back to the early 14th century, with alterations from the 17th century and a restoration in 1958. It is constructed of limestone rubble with a stone slate roof. The building comprises a central hall with a cross-wing to the left (west) and a service end to the right, which was extended forward in the 17th century to create a second cross-wing. It is two storeys high. The 17th-century windows have rebated and chamfered mullions. The left-hand cross-wing features a pair of 2-light windows on each floor and a coped gable. The hall has a four-light window, a single-light window, and two dormers. A pointed doorway of early 14th-century type, with sunk quadrant moulding and a keel-moulded hood, is located on the right-hand side. The right-hand cross-wing has a four-light window on the ground floor and a three-light window on the first floor. Chimneys are located to the right of the left-hand wing, on the main ridge in line with the apex of the right-hand wing, and forward of the ridge to the left of the doorway. The east wall of the left-hand cross-wing has a blocked, chamfered doorway with a pointed head, and a window under the eaves. The left-hand wall has two 3-light windows and two attic dormers. A doorway on the rear wall of the hall is similar to the front doorway, located at the opposite end of the cross-passage. Inside the hall range, parts of three cruck-trusses are visible. On the ground floor at the rear, the feet of the blades to the east and west of the cross-passage are visible; in the room to the west, part of the base of a third truss can be seen. On the first floor, this truss is ceiled at collar level. The truss to the west of the cross-passage has curved braces to the collar, while the truss to the east features a lap-jointed collar of smaller dimensions. Curved wind-braces are also visible. The ground floor ceiling in the hall has deeply-moulded beams. A stone fireplace bears a re-cut inscription including the words "By Mee Richarde Bocknole ... 168-". The ceiling of the early cross-wing has wide, flat joists. A stone fireplace is moulded with a canted head. On the first floor, two visible trusses in this wing have arch-braced collars. Parts of two wall posts are uncovered, suggesting that the wing was partially timber-framed. The absence of timber-framing evidence in the hall range, together with the early date of the stone doorways to the cross-passage, suggests that the hall has always had stone walls.