The Old Rectory, Carshalton

The Old Rectory, Carshalton

Built circa 1720–30 for William Hollier, Vicar of Carshalton, this is a Queen Anne Style house of grade II* importance. The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with black headers, with a slate roof, wooden cornice, window frames and doorcases, stone steps and iron railings.

The original structure is a square building of two storeys, attics and basement arranged on a plan of four bays with four rooms to each floor and a staircase positioned near the middle of the north side. The off-centre main entrance originally opened directly into the hall, probably functioning as a waiting room for parishioners, and the north-west ground floor room was probably originally the vicar's study. This plan was modified in the mid-19th century by the addition of a west extension and a two-storey north porch, both of lesser architectural interest.

The east entrance front displays four bays beneath a hipped roof with a moulded eaves cornice and a pair of full dormers with diamond-shaped leaded lights. There are six over six sash windows with rubbed brick heads and a projecting brick band between floors and plinth. The basement windows are modern replacements. The entrance in the third bay from the left has a wooden doorcase with a segmental head and cornice supported on foliate consoles above fluted pilasters, with a small later projecting hood. The door is 18th century with a later half-glazed insertion, approached by a flight of nine original stone steps with plain iron railings.

The south side retains its original four bays without windows in the third bay to accommodate a chimneystack with fireplaces. The roof features a large brick dormer with a 12-light casement. A band between the floors and plinth is present, along with two blocked segmental-headed basement openings. The western 19th-century extension comprises two bays with four-light sash windows to each floor and a blocked segmental-headed basement window.

On the north side, the original part of the building consists of four bays with no windows in the eastern bay. The first floor has a window with square leaded lights below the eaves, with a larger window originally below now obscured by a mid-19th-century flat-roofed porch containing a three over three sash window above a door. Two irregularly-spaced horned sash windows are positioned to the west of the porch, with a hipped dormer above. The north wall of the mid-19th-century extension is of plain brick; a narrow tower-like structure in the angle between this and the main building has a small window on the ground floor and a four-light sash above on its north side. The west side of this structure has a round-headed door with three corbelled out bricks above similar to the porch. The west side of the original building is largely covered by the 19th-century extension, which has a casement window to the upper floor and a basement door below it.

The entrance into the ground floor from the east leads into the hall, originally part of the north-west room. This room contains an early-19th-century black marble or slate fireplace with a cast iron Victorian fire-grate and is panelled with large upper and small lower panels separated by a dado rail, with a cupboard on the west side of the fireplace featuring a row of iron coat-hooks inside.

The south-east original room has a fireplace in the south-west corner and is panelled with large upper panels and small lower ones separated by a dado rail, with window seats. The painted fireplace is probably of white marble. The door between it and the adjoining south-west room has a wide arch.

The original south-west room has a painted fire surround, probably over white marble and likely of early-19th-century date. A cupboard on the north side of the chimney has a moulded surround but no door.

The original north-west room was later divided by a partition, though panelling survives along the south side of the original room and parts of the north and west walls. The fireplace with shelf and brackets is probably early 19th century.

The Victorian wing contains a large south room with a black marble fireplace.

The staircase, rising from cellar to attics, has turned balusters and a moulded handrail with a half rail and dado panels on the wall.

On the first floor, the original north-east and south-east rooms were amalgamated; the north-east part retains panelling over the fireplace only, with a decorated cast iron basket grate. There is a bolection-moulded fireplace in the southern part.

The south-west room retains almost all its panelling and a fireplace in the centre of the west wall with a bolection-moulded surround and a 19th-century cast iron fire-grate by Carron Company, along with two doorcase surrounds, one blocked.

The original north-west room has been subdivided into three with later partitions. The west wall has a blocked fireplace with a plain wooden surround with roll moulding, some panelling above and along the south, north and east sides of the original room.

The Victorian extension has no fittings of note.

In the attics, the north-eastern room has a later cast iron fire-grate. The roof timbers are partially hidden by the plaster ceiling, though side purlins and collars are visible. A carpenter's mark is visible on a common rafter on the north side of the roof.

In the basement, the south-west room of the original part contains a bridging joist and cross-beam and an original fireplace which was tiled in the Victorian period, probably for a cooking range.

The north-east room has cupboards with reused doors featuring ventilation holes and old hinges.

The north-west room contains a niche with a sandstone slab shelf.

The Victorian basement was built over a pre-existing well. Some fireplaces throughout the building are of early 19th-century date.