The Old Rectory, Halton House And Attached Walls And Piers

The Old Rectory, Halton House, and attached walls and piers is a building that dates back to 1689, originally constructed for Dr. Halton. It was altered and enlarged around 1805 for Reverend John Knipe. The structure is made of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and features Welsh-slate roofs with brick stacks. It has an L-plan layout and has been significantly extended, standing two storeys plus an attic.

The architectural front, which faces the garden, includes a two-storey service range that projects from the extreme left of the 17th-century section. To the extreme right is a regular five-window section featuring 12-pane sash windows above tall casements. The central bay has a tripartite sash window above an added stone porch, dated 1856, which is adorned with pilasters and a cornice. The earliest section retains three 2-light stone-mullioned windows with Classical architraves and moulded sills on the first floor. The ground floor has a blocked doorway situated between three-light mullioned windows; the right window still has two early casements, while the left window lacks its mullions and contains a later four-light casement.

The rear and left gable wall of the 17th-century section features additional stone-mullioned windows with one and two lights, fitted with sashes and all having damaged architraves. The gable retains its original roofline, which has been raised to align with the roof of the later section. The rear of the later range includes a double-gabled rear wing with an arched stair window and a projecting porch that contains a panelled door set in a stone-architraved doorway framed by Tuscan pilasters and topped with a large triangular pediment.

Inside, the earlier range features stop-chamfered cross beams, a winder stair, and some old doors. The property is also enclosed by stone-coped rubble walls approximately 2.5 metres high, which extend between ashlar piers for about 40 metres to the east and 15 metres to the west of the porch, returning down Otmoor Lane for approximately 35 metres.