The Old Rectory And Parsonage Flat

The Old Rectory and Parsonage Flat is a house dating from the 17th century, which was remodelled in the late 18th century. It features a roughcast exterior with tile-clad gables at the front, built over a timber frame, and has a tile roof with brick stacks. The building has a hall with cross-wings and stands two storeys high, with a six-window range. The fenestration consists of a 1:3:2 arrangement on the gabled wing, with a recessed and double-gabled centre, and another gabled wing. There is a late 20th-century porch leading to a central 20th-century door, and the windows are late 18th-century sashes beneath a gabled roof with end stacks.

Inside, there is a late 18th-century dog-leg staircase with a landing, panelled doors, and a stone floor in the hall. A timber-framed partition is present on the first floor to the right, and the right wing has a three-bay 17th-century collar truss roof with butt purlins. The left wing is slightly lower and likely older, though it has not been inspected.

At the rear left, there is a late 18th-century block constructed of Flemish bond brick with a slate roof, featuring a two-unit plan that provides access to the house. The garden front has four bays with gauged flat brick arches over recessed sashes, each set within a semi-circular gauged brick arch. The building also has a late 19th-century brick cornice, a central dormer, and a hipped roof with end stacks. Inside this section, there are late 18th-century fireplaces in two rooms.

Notably, Jonathan Swift stayed here in 1714, where he wrote "Verses on Himself" and "Some Free Thoughts on the Present State of Affairs."