The Priest'S House

The Priest's House is a 14th-century priest's lodging, with later alterations. It is constructed of roughly cut and squared local lias stone, with Ham stone dressings, and has a thatched roof with a stepped coped gable to the west and a half-hipped gable to the east. Brick chimney stacks are also present. The south elevation has four bays. The first bay features a 3-light, possibly 19th-century, chamfered mullioned window with flat heads and square labels. The second bay contains a moulded pointed arched doorway with an arched label, an old boarded and studded door with covermoulds to the joints. The third bay has a full-height, 4-light mullioned and transomed window, likely of the late 15th century, with four-centred arched lights below a transome and cinquefoil cusped lights above, featuring quatrefoils in the tracery and a square label. The fourth bay has a 4-light, hollow chamfered mullioned window with four-centred arched lights, some early external ferramenta, and a square label. Above this is a small 2-light window with trefoil cusped lights and incised spandrels, possibly of the 14th century, cut into the thatch. The windows are leaded, with bay 1 featuring rectangular panes and the remainder featuring diamond panes.

Internally, the layout is based around a cross passage, with solid walls to the cross-passage. The west room has a small, plain fireplace with a chamfered and cambered timber lintol with scroll stops. This room, along with the ceiling beams, suggests a 17th-century reshaping. A four-centre arched moulded doorway with a wood frame is found in the east wall of the passage. The centre room has an adapted wave-mould fireplace and a partition against the parlour, which is partly stone and partly wattle and daub, including a semi-circular headed stone doorway with plain chamfer. Four sections of a 6-panel moulded beam and panel ceiling remain, with the others having been removed for a staircase. At first floor level, another wattle and daub partition spans the cross-passage, with a later door cut into it. The roof frame incorporates raised crucks, except at the west end.

The house was first mentioned in 1308 and described as “ruinous” in 1608. It was used by the vicar or curate until around 1840 when it served as a cellar and later as a school; in the late 19th century it was rented by a farmer. The National Trust acquired the property in 1911.