Churchlands

Churchlands is a rectory, now a house, likely built in the early and late 17th century, with alterations from the 18th and 20th centuries. The structure is of squared coursed limestone with an old plain tile roof. Originally planned as two units, it is now a U-shaped building, two storeys high with an attic. The front facade has three windows and a central gabled porch. The central 17th-century plank front door is sheltered by a four-centred, chamfered stone arch. The windows are mostly from the early 20th century, featuring three-light stone mullions and one two-light casement, all with leaded lights. The porch has a small diamond-shaped window with a quatrefoil in its return wall. Two flat-topped dormers are present, along with ashlar gable parapets. The ends have ashlar stacks with moulded cornices. The rear elevation features two projecting wings – one to the left and one to the right. The wing to the right mirrors the detailing of the front facade, while the wing to the left is timber-framed with a close studded upper storey and a rendered ground floor containing 20th-century leaded casements. Inside, the room to the left of the entrance hall has a large 17th-century fireplace with a four-centred arch head, complemented by two 18th-century alcoves. The room on the right has an open fireplace with a bressumer carved by a former rector in the late 19th century. A room at the rear left also contains a 17th-century fireplace with a four-centred arch head. Two first-floor rooms have similar fireplaces. An early 18th-century staircase is present, alongside stop chamfered spine beams. Some 18th-century two-panel doors are found on the ground and first floors, with plank doors leading to the attic. The roof structure of the front range retains original collar trusses, butt purlins, and some arched collars and tie beams. The timber-framed wing was likely restored in the early 20th century, and the building is said to have origins dating back to the 12th century.