Shute House

Shute House is a late 16th-century rectory with an 18th-century addition to the south. It is now a detached house. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar and rubble stone, with a tiled roof featuring hips on the 18th-century range and stone slate eaves to the earlier ranges. Brick stacks are present. The original 16th-century range is L-shaped, running parallel to an 18th-century range. The house has two storeys and a basement, with a three-window front to the 18th-century range, set at a right angle to the road. The central bay of the 18th-century front projects, featuring a glazed door within a moulded architrave with a keystone and pediment supported on consoles. Fifteen-pane sashes flank the doorway. Steps lead up to a channelled rusticated basement, which incorporates a segmental-headed casement to the left and right. The first floor features a central fifteen-pane sash within an eared architrave with a keystone and scrolled shoulders, with further fifteen-pane sashes on either side. A pediment crowns the central bay, and an ovolo-moulded stone cornice runs along the top, with channelled rusticated quoins to the sides and centre bay. The right return has two fifteen-pane sashes to both the ground and first floors, set back from this is a 20th-century entrance porch attached to the late 16th-century cross wing, housing a six-panelled door within a moulded stone architrave, believed to be from Bowood House, with a fixed twelve-pane window on either side. The left return of the 18th-century range has a fifteen-pane sash to both floors. The stair hall to the rear features a lunette window to the basement and a fifteen-pane round-arched stair window above. The late 16th-century range, now a service wing, is situated at a right angle to the road. It has two 2-light leaded casements, one recessed chamfered mullioned casement, a two-light wooden casement to the ground floor, and three 2-light casements to the first floor; one of these is a reset round-arched 16th-century casement, and another is a 2-light mullioned casement. The gable end features one square-headed and one round-headed casement in the attic. The rear of the range has a six-panelled door and leaded casements, including a large seven-light kitchen window. The first floor rear also has blocked chamfered lights. The rear of the cross wing, facing the garden, has a glazed door and twelve-pane sashes with keystones. Internally, the original 16th-century range, now a service wing, was altered, presumably in the early 18th century, and retains deeply chamfered beams with stepped stops or runout stops. Some doors have two raised panels, and wainscot panelling is found in a small sitting room. The 18th-century range boasts a fine stair hall with an open-well staircase featuring two turned balusters to each tread, carved ends to the treads, a wide ramped handrail, and a panelled dado. The main rooms have six-panelled doors, panelled window shutters, an egg and dart moulded ceiling cornice in the library, and a dentilled cornice in the drawing room. Both rooms also contain reset marble fireplaces. A former garage, converted to a billiard room in 1970, is attached to the right of the service wing and includes fifteen-pane sashes, attic dormers and a large external stone stack to the north gable. The building ceased to function as a rectory during the 1940s.