The Priory

The Priory is a house, now divided into two dwellings, dating from probably the late 16th century with significant alterations in the mid to late 18th century and additions in the mid 19th century. The building has a late 16th-century wing at the rear right and an 18th-century wing at the rear centre, while bays 1 and 2 represent a mid-19th-century addition with a rear wing. The main façade is seven bays wide, with a canted round corner. The central four bays are of 18th-century origin, while bays 1 and 2 and bay 7 are mid-19th-century additions. The elevations feature sash windows with glazing bars, set within reveals with gauged flat brick arches and projecting sills. The windows on the ground floor have shutters. A six-panel door is located in bay 3, set within a panelled reveal with a pilastered architrave that has acanthus leaf capitals, a frieze with end paterae, and a cornice. A similar door is found in bay 7. A tripartite window is in bay 4, with a Venetian window on the first floor, featuring four-pane sashes flanking a central sash with glazing bars. The rear of the building includes a 16th-century wing with a tile-hung gable and leaded-light casement windows. An 18th-century wing has a canted end with Venetian windows on each floor and stepped dentilled eaves. A narrow bay has a small-pane door in a trellis porch and a sash window in a flush wood reveal. The 19th-century wing has tripartite windows on each floor, with four-pane sashes flanking twelve-pane sashes, the ground-floor window being larger and within a trellised loggia with a swept roof. The right return of the 16th-century wing displays square-panelled timber framing to the first floor and a small two-light window, joined to the front range by a 19th-century brick link bay with a round-arched first-floor window. Inside No. 1 The Priory, an Imperial staircase has stick balusters, moulded handrails with spiral curtails, and wave-moulded treads. Ground-floor rooms on the right feature fireplace surrounds in a mid to late 18th-century style, decorated with acanthus leaf, festoon, and vase ornamentation. The 16th-century wing was formerly a public house, known as The Swan Inn.