Rectory Farmhouse

Rectory Farmhouse, dating from the 14th and 15th centuries with significant alterations in the 17th, 19th, and 20th centuries, is believed to occupy the site of a former monastery. The farmhouse is constructed of coursed squared and dressed limestone, partly rendered, with a stone slate roof and ashlar stacks. It has a rectangular main body plan with a mid-19th century extension to the rear and a 20th-century single bay extension to the left of the main body. The main building is two and a half storeys with a twin-gabled, four-windowed garden front, incorporating a 14th-15th century undercroft at the right end. Ground-floor windows are four-light, hollow-chamfered stone-mullioned casements with king mullions. First-floor windows are double-chamfered, hollow-moulded casements, with similar windows set within continuous hoods to the gables. Window hoods are stopped. The undercroft is lit by two double-chamfered single-light casements. All windows on the 17th-century facade feature horizontal glazing bars. A 20th-century two-storey single bay extension to the left end features a canted bay and a two-light casement to the first floor. A 17th-century open-sided porch is located off-centre to the right, supported by free-standing and engaged columns. The porch front features a semi-circular arch with a keystone and pierced spandrels, and a decorative stone gable above with moulded capping. Four-centred archways are positioned on either side. A 20th-century plank door is set within a moulded, almost semi-circular headed surround with moulded imposts and a keystone. The left-hand return of the 20th-century extension is lit by 20th-century three-light casements. Stepped coping defines the gable ends. Twin diagonal stacks with moulded cappings rise from the right gable end, and a roll-cross saddle tops the left gable end. The interior contains a 14th-15th century vaulted undercroft, notable for its extensive ribbing branching from freestanding cylindrical columns and responds with roll-moulded capitals and bases. The capitals of the responds and piers suggest an earlier date, possibly indicating a rebuilding of the vaulting. Plain recessed circular bosses are at the centre of each vault. A large, moulded Tudor-arched fireplace with carved spandrels and an overmantel with stepped mouldings is located in the room above the undercroft. A large open fireplace with a flat-chamfered segmental-headed surround (formerly having a bread oven) is in the far left-hand room on the ground floor. A flat-chamfered Tudor-arched door surround, formerly part of the left-hand return of the main body, now opens into the 20th-century extension. The undercroft was reputedly once extended beneath the front lawn and infilled in the early 20th century.