Rectory Cottage

Rectory Cottage, likely dating from the early 15th century, is situated on Biddy Park Lane in Dunchideock. The building was probably associated with Bishop Stafford and underwent significant alterations in the 1960s. It is now divided into two cottages. The exterior is constructed from dressed Heavitree brecccia and volcanic trap, with a slate roof and gabled ends. Chimneys are located at the ends of the building, with a front lateral stack, although the shaft of this stack has been removed.

Published ground plans from 1957 reveal the original layout comprised three rooms and a through passage, with the lower end heated to the right, and a hall heated by the front lateral stack. An inner room, also heated, was situated to the left and featured a projecting front stair with a winder stair. Small garderobe projections are located on the extreme left and right of the front facade.

The front has an irregular four-window arrangement. An arched doorway, framed with stone voussoirs, provides access to the former passage, positioned to the right of the center. Left of the doorway stands the lateral stack, which once supported a flue for a first-floor fireplace. A modern doorway has been inserted to the left of the stack, partially obscuring the remains of a medieval hall window which originally featured two cinquefoil-headed lights within a square frame. To the left of this window, a single-story projection indicates the survival of the inner room stair turret. To the right of the passage doorway, an original single-light stone window, possibly a stair window for a former lower end, is set within a moulded frame. A modern copy of this window has been inserted to the left of the passage doorway. Four 2-light casements are located on the first floor. The rear elevation incorporates 20th-century windows, but the blocked arches of three original ground floor windows are still visible. A blocked opening with a high-set arch and voussoirs on the rear hall wall may represent the remains of a former rear hall window. One-light, two-centred windows are evident on the right and left returns.

The interior was modernized with new partitions and roof structure in the 1960s, but some original features remain. Arched garderobe doorways survive, with the left-hand doorway rebated for hinges. The inner room fireplace still contains a 20th-century grate, but a cranked relieving arch is visible above an old moulded stone lintel and jambs. The 1957 description details the original features of moulded cross beams and an arched brace roof.

A terrier dated 1679 mentions a detached two-story cob kitchen that had disappeared by 1728.