The Old Rectory

THE OLD RECTORY, WITHIEL

A rectory or parsonage, now a house. Probably of 17th-century or earlier origin, said to have been built by Prior Vyvyan of Bodmin, it was extended and remodelled in the early 19th century, around 1815, with 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of granite rubble with a rendered front. The main range has an asbestos slate roof with a gable end to the right and a hipped end to the left. There are gable-end stacks to the right and an axial stack to the left, both with brick shafts. A coach house and parish room stand to the front right, with a hipped slurried scantle slate roof.

The original plan consisted of two rooms: a larger room to the left and a smaller room to the right, each heated by a gable-end stack. Around 1815, a single-room addition was made to the left end, heated by a fireplace backing onto the original left gable-end fireplace. The house was re-fronted in Gothick style and a straight stair was inserted in the passage between the two original rooms. At approximately the same time, an addition was made to the right, forming a front wing containing coach houses to the rear (entered at the right side) and a front room that may have served as a parish room. A late 19th-century single-storey service wing stands behind the left addition, originally heated from a gable-end stack with an oven, with a later small single-storey addition at its end.

The exterior is two storeys with an asymmetrical four-window front. All windows are early 19th-century Gothick-style casements with pointed arched lights and Y tracery, set beneath square hoodmoulds. An embattled parapet runs around a shallow two-storey porch. The porch has a pointed arched outer doorway with hoodmould, and an inner door of 19th-century date, half-glazed with Gothick glazing, with a single casement above. To the right is a two-light casement at ground and first-floor levels. To the left is a two-light casement at ground floor and a three-light casement at first floor. The end bay is slightly set back with two-light casements at ground and first floors. The front wing is sandstone rubble at ground floor with smaller granite rubble blocks above (probably raised in height). A plank door with segmental brick arch stands at ground floor to the front. The right side has two 19th-century sixteen-pane sashes at ground floor and one at first floor to the right, with a 20th-century window at first floor to the left. The wall steps forward to the right with two double carriage doors having segmental brick arches. The rear of the coach house has two rows of square pigeon holes under the eaves, a nine-pane light, and a blocked door. The left side of the house has a half-glazed 20th-century door. The service wing has four 20th-century windows and a curved oven at its end, with the stack truncated. The rear of the main range has a two-panelled door with slate hood, a nine-pane light with HL hinges and timber lintel at first floor to the left, and a small single light at first floor to the right, possibly marking the site of an early stair. The service wing has a four-pane light, door, and nine-pane 20th-century light, with a single-storey small addition at its end.

Internally, the house retains good Gothick features including six-panelled doors with pointed arched panelling, similar shutters to the windows, and a pair of cupboards in the room to the left of the entrance. A straight stair inserted in the passage has Gothick pilasters. The room to the right contains a Gothick door and a fireplace with timber lintel. The room to the left has a fireplace with timber lintel and a cloam oven to the rear left. The room at the end left has a fireplace with a cambered moulded timber lintel. At first-floor level, the feet of the principal rafters are boxed in, and the roof is not accessible. Above the porch is a small cupboard with a moulded wooden frame. To the left, in the back wall, is a single light with deep splayed reveal, possibly marking an early stair site.