The Priory

The Priory is a mid-19th century building, likely a remodelling of an earlier house, with additions dating to the later 19th century and a 20th-century extension. It is built of stucco with a slate roof featuring decorative ridge tiles, with a gabled right-hand end, a hipped left end, and a hipped front on the wing. Three stacks are present: a rendered rubble stack offset from the ridge at the right-hand gable end, a similar lateral stack at the rear, and a rendered brick lateral stack on the side of the front wing. The plan is of an off-centre stairhall with one room on either side, the left-hand room being considerably larger. A contemporary wing extends from the right-hand end room, with a shallow projecting wing to the front of the left-hand end. Another wing at the rear of the left-hand end dates from the probably slightly later 19th century. A single-storey 20th-century extension runs along the rear wall, adjoining the wing.

The facade is asymmetrical, with a five-window arrangement plus a one-window projecting wing to the left. The first floor has mid-19th century 12-pane hornless sash windows. Similar tripartite windows are on the ground floor and have hoodmoulds above. A contemporary panelled and glazed front door, with fluting in the lower panels and panelled reveals, is located to the right of centre. A later 19th-century, open-fronted porch with an elliptical head is also present. The wing on the front to the left has a one-window frontage with identical fenestration.

The interior was inaccessible when surveyed, but it is likely to contain contemporary joinery. The building occupies the site of an Augustinian priory, founded around 1143 and dependant on the Abbey of St Pierre de Rille, near Fougeres. The Priory of Ipplepen is mentioned in a Bishop's register of 1274.