Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a large detached house, originally a rectory, built in 1845. It was designed by G.P. Manners. The house is constructed from thin bedded coursed and squared stone with ashlar dressings, and has slate roofs. The plan is a compact square shape, with a central entry leading to a staircase hall, a slightly projecting gabled end to the north-east, and a low gabled service range attached to the north-west.

The house has three storeys and a basement, with generally small-pane casement windows in double-chamfered surrounds, some with transoms, and drip courses with dropped ends. The west front, the main entrance front, features a two-light dormer window above a two-light window at the first floor and a three-light window with transom at ground floor. The central entrance has a three-panel, part-glazed door set in a flat, four-centred arched head, approached by three stone steps, above a two-light casement. A plain gable to the right features a large external stepped stack with paired chimney shafts, and a ridge stack with four shafts. Basement grilles are positioned to the right of the door, with the heads of the lights at pavement level. All chimneys have octagonal ashlar shafts with cappings; gables have saddle-back copings with prominent kneelers. The south front has a central single window flanked by two-light casements at the first floor, above two three-light windows with transoms. The east front features a plain gable with an external stack, a two-light window over a three-light window with transom, and a two-light window at mid height. A basement grille and window survive to the left. The right gable is coped, with a ridge stack with four shafts located near the centre. The north front incorporates single lights at ground and first floors, a two-light window to the projecting gable end, and a four-panel door with transom light above a two-light window. An external staircase is also present. A diagonally set stack and a two-light casement are attached to a single-storey gabled range.

The interior was not inspected as part of the listing process. The Old Rectory is a relatively early example of the Jacobean Revival style carried out with a high degree of conviction. The building is externally completely unaltered and, on a large scale characteristic of 19th-century rectories, remains an important visual feature alongside the Church of St Michael immediately to the north.