1-4, Church Close

A house, formerly the Old Rectory, divided into four houses and flats in 1961, dates to the late 15th century, with 17th-century and circa 1836 alterations. It is timber framed, with rendered and lined ashlar, brick, and some colourwashed elevations, and has plain tile roofs. The building has a complex plan, with a gable facing the road.

The long range incorporates a late 15th-century end-jettied range and jettied crosswing, a 17th-century range, an early 19th-century wing at right angles, and a wing to the rear dating from circa 1836, partially aligned with the medieval crosswing. The house has one and a half, two, and two and a half storeys, with cellars. The late 15th-century range has three first-floor leaded casements. A brick porch in Flemish bond, painted and with a circa 1836 parapet, reuses carved spandrels dating from around 1500 in its arch. A 20th-century door replaces an older entry, with a blocked doorway to the left. The crosswing features a horned sash window and a 19th-century door, reset from the rear of the house and formerly a window. The first floor has a three-light timber casement. The 17th-century range is timber framed, encased in brick, rendered and lined as ashlar, and has scattered 19th and 20th-century casements, and one horned sash. It features three half-dormers with casements beneath carved bargeboards, and one leaded casement. Two 20th-century doors lead into the building; the right-hand door is beneath a porch and incorporates cusped brattishing, carved spandrels, and a tall octagonal crown post with a moulded cap and base, along with two braces – likely from the earlier range and incorporated around 1836. A painted brick two-storey range is situated to the right with scattered fenestration. Axial stacks with grouped polygonal shafts, moulded caps, mostly dating from the 19th century and later, are present including one between the hall and crosswing, one to the left of the 17th-century range, and one inserted into the jettied roadside gable.

At the rear, there are two first-floor leaded casements, one a circa 18th-century cross casement, and one similar to those on the front. The 1836 brick wing is two storeys high, with three first-floor leaded casements, one probably from the early 18th century, set into the facade.

The interior of the late 15th-century range comprises two unequal bays, and the crosswing has two or three curtailed bays (now part of No. 2). The roof is a mutilated crown post roof with one octagonal post with an embattled cap, and longitudinal braces. The crosswing has an open truss with renewed braces, presumably replaced around 1836. A 19th-century staircase features stick balusters, a wreathed handrail, and turned newel posts. Six-panel doors with egg and dart moulding to raised and fielded panels are also present. A cellar lies beneath the crosswing and the 1836 wing and is said to contain early brickwork. The roof has not been inspected but is documented from photographs.