2 Dorchester Road

2 Dorchester Road is a former vicarage, dating to 1859 and designed by Ricketts. It is now used as a language school and was originally situated within the churchyard of St John’s Church. The building is constructed of squared coursed Portland stone, with limestone dressings, and has a slate roof.

The building is a complex, gabled villa in a severe Gothic style, with detailing reminiscent of Butterfield. It is two storeys and attics in height, featuring windows generally of the cusped lancet type, with flush stone dressings and chamfer mouldings. All chimney stacks have been cropped to just above ridge height. The principal gables are coped with saddle stones and moulded kneelers.

The west-facing front has two small gables with trefoil lights above paired cusped lights. The entrance is via an outer pointed opening with label and chamfered surround, featuring diamond stops and small trefoil openings within the cheeks. A plank door, fitted with strap hinges, is set within a bold porch, itself topped by a coped gable. A broad stack is present on the left return gable, and a small, gabled boiler house projects forward from the main front. To the right of the porch, a coped gable with a stepped stack and sunk trefoil panel bearing a coat of arms (obscured by growth) is located.

The south-facing front, overlooking the church, features a face dormer with paired lancets above a 1:2:1 arrangement of lancets under a continuous label and sill band, with the same configuration on the ground floor. A gable, stepped forward to the right, has a trefoil above a paired lancet with a blind trefoil and a label and sill band, above a hexagonal bay with 1:3:1 lancets. The eastern return has a wide external stack and a paired lancet dormer. Below, a triple-lancet stair window is located to the right, adjacent to a stepped-forward gable end with triple lancets at both ground and first floor levels. The north front has two large external stacks. A high plinth runs around the entire building.

Internally, the building retains many original panelled doors, and the bay window has panelled linings and soffit. A dogleg staircase features square iron balusters and a swept handrail.

The building appears largely unaltered since its original design, with the exception of the cropped chimney stacks. It remains an important architectural and historical adjunct to the nearby church.