The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a large house built in 1691 for T. Wren, with the front block rebuilt around 1790 for Rev. Waddington. It underwent alterations and extensions in the 19th century. The building is constructed of brick, with some timber framing at the rear, all covered in stucco. It features a double mansard roof, which is slate and tiled. The house has five bays and is double depth, standing two storeys high with attics.

The central entrance has a four-panelled architraved door topped by a rectangular fanlight with elliptical tracery. A small timber Tuscan porch adorns the entrance. The windows are flush frame sashes with moulded frames, and there are four red brick extruded end stacks. The slate roofing is only visible on the front pitch. On the left side, there are two ground floor sashes and a first floor sash at the rear with glazing bars, along with a horizontal sliding sash and a casement window in the attic. The rear features scattered glazing bar sashes, a tripartite window on the ground floor right, and two dormer windows with horizontal sliding sashes, with an entrance located to the right of centre. The right side has a casement window in the front attic.

The largest stack serves the kitchen and was originally external but is now on the ridge of a lower two-storey 18th-century dairy, which is made of red brick with blind openings and dentilled eaves. This dairy was extended by one bay to the right in the 19th century, featuring a lower roof. The gable end has two ground floor two-light casements with cambered heads and a first floor horizontal sash, while a further 19th-century range projects to the rear with entrances and a horizontal sliding sash.

Inside, there is a round arch leading from the entrance hall to a late 18th-century dog-leg stair with a moulded handrail. The interior also includes panelled doors and simple cornices. In the rear block, there is a stop-chamfered binding beam and a large fireplace. Sir John Soane is known to have made plans for remodelling Kelshall Rectory, which served as the basis for the late 18th-century work.