Old Rectory And Railings Attached To Doorstep

The Old Rectory, now serving as a zoo office, was built around 1840 by Reverend the Hon Augustus Duncombe. It features a distinctive design with bordered herringbone-tooled sandstone and a slate roof. The building is two stories high and has a three-window front. The entrance is located on the left side, while the right side showcases a three-window semicircular bay with tall 12-pane sash windows set between Tuscan columns. There is also a 4-pane sash window on the left and additional 12-pane sashes on the first floor. A cornice above the bay window extends as a moulded band beneath the first-floor sill band. The eaves are overhanging, and there are ridge stacks on the hipped roof.

On the left side, there is a two-story, three-window front with a one-story quadrant screen wall on the left. A 20th-century door is accessed by a flight of steps with railings, flanked by 12-pane sash windows. The screen wall features a plain door with a divided overlight. The moulded eaves cornice continues as a moulded band across the main front. The right side has a two-story, five-window front with 12-pane sashes on both floors, the ground floor windows set over recessed panels. There are moulded bands and sill bands on the first floor.

At the rear, the ground floor is concealed by a service range. A radial-glazed staircase window is located in a round-arched recess at the center of the first floor, with a tripartite sash window to the left and a 12-pane sash window to the right. The doorsteps are accompanied by railings featuring stick balusters and a flat handrail supported by turned standards at the bottom.

Inside, the Old Rectory contains a fine ashlar cantilevered staircase with an iron baluster and a mahogany handrail. Some marble fireplaces remain, along with all the shutters and most of the doors.