The Old Priory

The Old Priory is a house, originally two cottages, dating to the mid-17th century. It was restored in 1899 and again in 1953 by W. Olivant, when the two cottages were united. The house is built of coursed gritstone rubble with graduated stone slate roofs, and features quoins.

The main building, of two storeys and three bays, has a 20th-century recessed entrance bay on the right, connecting it to the gable end of the former Priests Bank Cottage, which is also of two storeys and three bays. A central single-storey porch has a doorway that was reduced to a window in the 20th century, with chamfered quoins. Bulbous kneelers and gable coping are present, as is a reset stone spout projecting above the lintel. Flanking the porch are two-light chamfered mullion windows, with lowered sills and alterations made in the 19th century. The first floor has a small, unusual three-light recessed chamfered mullion window with curved heads – the central light being lancet-shaped – and an ogee-curved hoodmould. A projecting string terminates above projecting stone spouts below this window. There’s an external stack to the left gable. The rear of the building has two blocked two-light windows, possibly reset, and a 20th-century extension to the left.

The left return has a massive stepped external stack with stone spouts, the top of which has been rebuilt; a small chamfered first-floor window is set into the eaves on the right. Inserted mullion windows are visible on the right return. Inside, a large arched fireplace with separate voussoirs is set into the left gable end. The former cottage’s south face has a half-glazed 20th-century door within a 19th-century chamfered surround, flanked by four-light recessed chamfered mullion windows on the ground floor, and similar three-light windows above. A large 19th-century single-light window is on the ground floor to the left. Stone gutter brackets are visible, along with end stacks to the left and to the rear of the ridge. A plaque with raised lettering reads "Restored AD 1899 R.H.F.W.W."

The house occupies a historically significant location at the junction of the road from the grange of Bolton Abbey, where it divides to lead to the church and Kildwick Hall. The 1899 restoration included alterations to the main building's ground-floor windows, potentially their removal to the cottage, and changes to the central bay. The stone spouts are similar to those on Kildwick Hall pavilion but are largely decorative, with the exception of those on the chimney stack. A dormer window is present, possibly built to imitate those at Kildwick Hall. The initials on the plaque are those of Richard Henry Francis Wharton Wilson, who owned Kildwick Hall at the time.