The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a former rectory, now a house, dating from 1854 and designed by W.H. Knight of Cheltenham. It is constructed of coursed squared stone with ashlar dressings, brick chimneys rising above the eaves, and a tiled roof with fish-scale coursing on the right side. The building has an irregular plan, comprising a three-bay main wing, a projecting central section, a single-bay rear projection of two and a half storeys, and a single-storey, ‘L’ plan service wing to the rear.

The front elevation has a plinth and a porch with an arched opening, a moulded surround, and a set of five stone steps. The porch has a hood mould with uncarved stops, and a small buttress to the left. A parapet gable features a large kneeler and a cross-gablet apex. To the right of the projection is a wall with three irregularly-spaced, ogee trefoil-headed lancet windows, a moulded string acting as a sill, and relieving arches above. A buttress continues the line of the front wall on the right. A set-back section features a similar lancet window with a high transom, repeated in the splay of a canted bay at the end of a block, both with relieving arches. A moulded string runs at window sill level on the first floor, with stepped corbels supporting an external chimney on the left. The gable has a canted oriel on moulded stone corbels below, with a trefoil-headed lancet on each face, featuring sunk spandrels, and a stone hipped roof. A chimney in the angle is corbelled across the corner, and has an ‘L’ plan brick top with serrated parapet gables and cross-gablet apices. The right return has a canted end to the main block, similar to the front elevation. On the first floor, a smaller paired lancet window is in the centre, rising into a gabled dormer with a stone parapet. A single-light window with a transom, and a flat stone lintel, is located slightly lower on the ground floor, with a relieving arch above. Further two-light windows are present, with a moulded string above and a two-light window above without a transom. A gabled dormer above this window has a two-light lancet with a trefoil ogee head and a stone parapet gable. The single-storey wing has a two-light casement with a transom and a flat stone lintel, and a long wing projects forwards. A single-light window is located at the rear of the left return, and a twin lancet, with a relieving arch above, is in the gable. Projecting purlins are visible on the gable. A brick chimney is on the ridge towards the rear of the wing. The interior was not inspected. Drawings are held at the County Records Office (P309 IN 3/1).