Old Vicarage

Old Vicarage

Vicarage, now house. Built in 1845 by William Butterfield, with interior remodelled and a north-east wing added in 1863 by W. Robertson. Some 20th-century alterations have been made. Constructed in coursed limestone rubble with Bath stone dressings and typically irregular quoins, with slate roofs with coped verges. Rear wings form a U-plan with high closing walls forming a small courtyard.

The building is regarded as the archetypal and seminal Victorian vicarage, considered the prototype of functional domestic architecture. It employs a picturesque Gothic style drawing on Cotswold vernacular, with an external stack derived from East Anglian vernacular tradition.

The main front elevation has 2 storeys and 4 bays. The gable to the left features a 10-light mullion and transom window with trefoil heads at ground floor level, and a 4-light window with chamfered mullions at first floor with a relieving arch. A steep gable with buttress rises to the right. The second bay has a smaller 8-light mullion and transom window at ground floor with trefoil heads and decorative leaded glazing, and a 3-light casement under eaves. The third bay features a wide gabled porch with pointed arched door, a single light under eaves with trefoil head and decorative leaded glazing, and a ridge stack with Bath stone quoins above. The fourth bay has an external stack with very pronounced batter and slender profile, with an ingle light to the left of two lights with chamfered mullion, and a buttress to the right.

The right return has a 10-light bay at ground floor left and a 4-light trefoil-headed window at first floor with decorative leaded glazing and relieving arch. A lower 2-storey wing dating to 1863 extends to the right, featuring an 8-light mullion and transom window with trefoil heads at ground floor, a 3-light trefoil-headed window under eaves, and a gable stack to the right.

The left return has an external weathered stack to the right, with a ground floor 8-light mullion and transom window to the left and a cross window with trefoil heads to the right. Above, a 4-light window with chamfered mullions sits under eaves to the left, with an external weathered stack to the rear.

To the rear, the 1863 wing to the left is connected by a turret with a 3-pane light at first floor. A single-storey brick lean-to extends to the right. The rear of the wing to the right has a steeply pointed gable end, with a cross window having chamfered mullion and transom at ground floor and a 2-light window with chamfered mullion at first floor, both with glazing bars and relieving arch. The left return of this wing has a blocked door with pointed chamfered arch (since fitted with a 20th-century light), a cross window to the right, and a single 20th-century light. The first floor has a pointed arched 2-light window with trefoil heads and quatrefoil, a lancet to the left, and a 2-light window with chamfered mullion under eaves. A curtain wall encloses the rear courtyard with an inner lean-to having a door in a chamfered surround. The right return of the rear wing has a 20th-century door and 6-pane light under eaves.

The interior contains a central entrance hall with staircase to the rear left, principal living rooms to the front, and service quarters in the rear wing. The 1863 remodelling retained much of the 1845 original work, though the building has since been further altered. The entrance hall or room features stencilled chamfered beams and a cross window to the rear with stained glass (formerly external). All panelled doors have turned wooden handles. Ground floor windows have large plain oak shutters with varied designs of cast-iron strap hinges. In the room to the right, the ingle light has an internal ovolo-moulded mullion. The room to the left contains a fine stone fireplace with segmental head, the sides finished with bolster-shaped tops, and a cast-iron grate with triangular doors. The staircase has a high plain screen with pierced quatrefoils, a winder stair with wide handrail, and pyramidal tops to the newels.