The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a former rectory that was remodeled around 1816 by John Provis, incorporating a 17th-century cottage at the rear. The main house features a rendered exterior with ashlar dressings and a low-pitched slate roof with hipped eaves. It is two stories tall and has an L-shaped plan. The west front has two ashlar ridge stacks, and the facade has been stripped of render to reveal the underlying rubble stone. The center of the facade is recessed, with the roof extending over it. Notable architectural details include a raised low plinth, a band, an eaves band, quoins, and window surrounds. The center has two 12-pane sash windows on each floor and an arched doorway with beading, featuring a nine-panel door and a fanlight. The projecting wings have a ground floor tripartite sash window with a 4-12-4-pane configuration in a raised segmental-headed surround, and a first-floor 12-pane sash window with a raised surround and cornice supported by consoles. The long south front is plain, with four 12-pane sashes on each floor, raised quoins, a band, and plain window surrounds, with the ground floor windows extending to the floor. There is one ridge stack and a hipped east gable. The east end has two upper windows and one window at the center of the ground floor. At the rear, there is a single and a two-storey service range adjoining the rear wall of the 17th-century cottage, constructed of rubble stone with a stone slate roof and an east stack. The north front features a door in a gabled porch, a wooden cross-window to the left, a side stack to the right, and some exposed timber-framing at the north-west angle. Inside, there are Regency-style door and window fittings with moulding and roundels, a stone cantilever staircase in the entrance hall with plain rails, and plaster cornices. The Wiltshire Record Office holds plans by J. Provis dated 1816 for the remodeling of the existing house, including a new staircase, although the execution differs from the plans.