The Old Vicarage And Adjacent Gateway And Boundary Wall

The Old Vicarage, now a house, was built in 1715 for the Reverend John Maurice. It is constructed from cut and squared ham stone with ashlar dressings and features a plain clay tiled roof between coped gables and brick chimney stacks. The building has an 'L' plan and is two storeys high with a five-bay south elevation that faces the road.

The windows are hollow-chamfered mullioned types set in chamfered recesses without labels. The upper windows are two-light with early iron-framed opening lights and sure curl stays, while the lower section has later windows designed to match, including large two-light windows between the first and second bays and the fourth and fifth bays. In the third bay, there is a doorway with an ovolo-moulded edge under a curtailed hood, featuring a six-flush-panelled door flanked by two 20th-century two-light windows. The west gables also have similar older windows, both with labels.

At the rear, there is a return wing with 18th-century casement windows and a lean-to extension. Approximately 300mm from the south-west corner of the house is a gateway with square stone piers topped with cornice caps and block step and ball finials. The adjoining wall is about 900mm high to the south and 1.5m high to the north, extending eastwards along Middle Street to mark the southern boundary. This wall is mostly made of uncoursed rubble with simple ashlar copings, enhancing the setting of the house and the streetscape in this corner position.

A faculty was granted to demolish the house in 1828, as it was reported to be "very dilapidated," but this was never carried out, and it ceased to function as a vicarage that same year.