The Priest's House

A priest's house in Cotswold Arts and Crafts style, designed for the priest of the Church of St Catherine and built in 1935 by architects Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs (1876–1938) and Guy Pemberton (1884–1959).

The building is constructed of squared and coursed Cotswold limestone with limestone ashlar dressings, roofed with limestone tiles. It is two storeys high, broadly rectangular in plan and oriented southwest to northeast, with a cross wing projecting to the northwest side at front and rear, and an additional projecting wing to the rear at the northwest corner.

The exterior is characterised by steep gables on all sides with raised and coped verges. The roof tiles are laid in diminishing courses with swept valleys. Windows throughout are leaded, with stone or timber mullions beneath stone or timber lintels. The southeast main elevation is composed of three unequal bays, those to left and right featuring gables, with the wider cross wing to the right projecting forward. Windows here are stone-mullioned in two, four, five and six lights, set beneath raking drip moulds. The entrance doorway has moulded edges and contains a ledged and braced plank door with elaborate wrought-iron strap hinges. The gables incorporate chamfered ventilators.

A notable feature is the relief carving of the Angel Gabriel by sculptor Eric Gill, located on the inner wall of the cross wing and spanning two stones. The figure, shown in profile, gestures towards the legend "AVE GRATIA PLENA" inscribed in a scroll.

The right return elevation is irregular, with a wide gabled bay towards the rear containing five-light timber-mullioned windows to both floors, and smaller windows to the left. The rear elevation shows the cross wing projecting further, with an external timber staircase rising to a first-floor door that formerly provided access to a schoolroom. Beneath this are the boiler house and coal house, all three rooms fitted with plain plank doors. The central bay has timber-mullioned leaded windows on both floors. The right-hand bay projects; its ground floor features a replacement timber casement window and an original mesh window serving the pantry inside. The southwest return mirrors the northeast elevation with comparable fenestration.

Internally, all windows are fitted with scrolling wrought-iron catches; doors are two-panelled. Floors are laid with parquet. The ground floor is organised around a central entrance hall flanked by principal rooms, with the bathroom, kitchen and former scullery positioned towards the rear. The principal rooms feature modestly moulded picture rails and distinctive stone fireplaces with large, plain stone ashlar surrounds, moulded openings and integrally-moulded mantelshelf. Each fireplace is subtly different in design. The staircase is a closed-string design with turned balusters and plain, square-section newel posts with moulded tops, enclosed below by panelling matching the doors.

The kitchen retains its original picture rail and a contemporary cast-iron and tile-fronted range set beneath a high timber surround with moulded brackets. The former kitchen still contains its original integral cupboards and drawers positioned to the right of the chimney breast. The former scullery is laid with quarry tiles.

The first floor features a galleried landing with picture rails and skirting boards matching those on the ground floor. A built-in linen closet with doors matching the kitchen cabinetry is present. The main bedrooms contain fireplaces that are smaller versions of the ground-floor examples, and are fitted with picture rails.