The Priory

The Priory is a detached house of late Medieval origin with parts possibly incorporating elements of the monastic buildings of the Bonshommes. It was substantially rebuilt around 1600 by Sir William Paulet and underwent further alterations during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The main structure is built of rubble stone with a tiled roof featuring coped verges. Ashlar and brick lateral stacks rise at the rear. The building comprises a main range with flanking front wings, which may represent the east wing of a larger house that was demolished in 1768.

The west front is two storeys with five windows. A central gabled porch dating from the 1930s contains a reset Tudor-arched doorway. To its left are two 3-light hollow-chamfered mullioned casements, and to the right is one restored 3-light mullioned casement. The first floor contains three 2-light hollow-chamfered mullioned casements, one single casement, and one 3-light mullioned casement with a hoodmould over the door. Two corbels, possibly designed to support statues, are visible, along with lead rainwater goods.

The flanking wings of circa 1600 are tower-like in character. The right wing features a Tudor-arched doorway and 2-light mullioned casement facing the courtyard, with cornices leading to a battlemented parapet. The left wing has a projecting garderobe on its first-floor left return, dating to the 18th century, which contains a 3-light leaded oriel and double gabled roof. A 20th-century boiler room now occupies the space below. Both wings have 3-light mullioned casements to their ground floors and 3-light mullioned and transomed windows to their first floors.

The left return of the main range contains a 2-light mullioned casement on the first floor and a 3-light mullioned casement with hoodmould to the attic. A buttress with offsets stands to the left, partially within a 20th-century flat-roofed lobby. A 20th-century single-storey addition extends to the left. The right return has two mullioned casements to the ground floor, a 3-light casement to the first floor, and a 3-light casement with hoodmould to the attic.

The rear elevation displays two canted projections with stone pitched cappings, probably housing former bread ovens associated with the rear lateral stack. This range may have originally functioned as the kitchens. A string course runs at first-floor level, with two 3-light mullioned casements below a dentilled stone cornice and battlemented parapet.

The interior retains significant original features. The central hall contains a restored open fireplace with a former bread oven to its right, accessible through a Tudor-arched moulded stone doorway, and features unchamfered beams. To the left, the kitchen has a partly blocked open fireplace and early 20th-century stairs. A Tudor-arched doorway connects the dining room in the north-west wing to a 20th-century lobby.

The first floor preserves more of the original character. Eight-panelled wainscot doors are present, one within a moulded architrave with ogee stops. A 15th-century 2-light window with cusped lights and stained glass survives in what was once an external wall between the main range and the north-west wing. A bedroom features a Tudor-arched stone fireplace with an oriel closet. The rear bedroom retains a 17th-century plaster ceiling with a central decorated panel featuring lions masks, foliage decoration, and trees. The main bedroom to the south has a Tudor-arched fireplace in its bathroom and a 17th-century plaster ceiling with central decorated panel, moulded cornice, and trees in the corners.

The attic of the main range contains a 6-bay butt purlin roof.

Historically, the Priory occupies the site of the Priory of the Bonshommes. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Sir William Paulet purchased the property. During the 17th century it was leased by Lady Beauchamp and subsequently occupied by the Winchester family, Earls of Bolton, from 1689 to 1768. In 1768, Joshua Smith demolished most of the larger house, leaving only the present range standing.