The Priory

The Priory is a large detached town house, now used as an old people’s home, built in 1767 by Matthew Sloper, with an additional wing added in the 19th century. It is constructed from coursed rubble stone, faced with ashlar on the east side, and has a tile roof with large ashlar stacks featuring moulded cornices. The building’s shape is an ‘L’, with the 18th-century block and the later north wing forming a large rectangle.

The east-facing main front is classical in style, featuring a moulded stone cornice with dentils and a balustraded parapet. A pediment sits above the central three bays, which project slightly, containing a circular window in the tympanum. The ground floor has six plate glass sash windows in plain reveals, and a round-headed central doorway with a moulded architrave, keystone, and a 20th-century glazed door. The first floor has seven windows with 12 panes, the central three of which have stone architraves, pulvinated friezes, cornices, and balustraded aprons. The second floor has a further seven windows in plain reveals. Wide string courses delineate the floors.

Some original internal joinery remains on the ground floor, including shutters and panelling. The north-facing garden front, with its 19th-century additions, includes double canted bays and a single-storey Jacobean-style linking unit, all featuring large stone mullion and transom windows.