Old Rectory

Old Rectory

A two-storey rectory comprising a main residence built in 1823 in simple Tudor-Gothic style to the south, and a service wing to the north that probably represents an earlier dwelling on the site.

The main residence is built to a square double-pile plan with its entrance through a central storeyed gabled porch in a symmetrically planned elevation facing west. The rear elevation has adjoining paired gabled wings. The building is constructed of local rubble masonry with freestone dressings. The slate roof has arched slate copings with shaped kneelers and finials. The porch features a stepped gable parapet with a shaped finial at the apex, diagonally-set buttresses to each corner, and a chamfered Tudor arch in a moulded architrave. A shield in the apex of the gable bears the initials and date J.P. 1823. To either side of the porch are triple diagonally-set dressed stone stacks with capping.

Windows are predominantly 2-light mullioned and transomed paired small-paned hornless sashes, though the ground floor window to the left of the porch has been replaced by a single-paned light. The rear elevation features ground floor windows of 3-lights and single windows between the paired first floor windows to each gable, all also with transoms.

The service wing is a low 2-storeyed, 2-window range on the same alignment as the main house, built of rubble masonry (limewashed to the west elevation) with a slate roof and axial brick stack, and some brick dressings. The original arrangement is unclear, but the axial stack may mark the position of an original end gable wall, with a narrow bay beyond it appearing to be a separate build. This narrow bay now houses a doorway to the ground floor with a 9-pane sash above. Paired windows to the ground floor beyond are of circa 1900 character, with sashes featuring small upper panes in earlier openings with cambered brick heads. A small 9-paned sash sits below the eaves above the left-hand window. The rear elevation also has a doorway in the narrow bay beyond the stack, here with a raised roofline accommodating a sash window of circa 1900; fenestration elsewhere dates to this period with narrow sashes, small upper panes and brick dressings. However, an earlier 12-pane hornless sash with cambered brick head survives to the right, and a small-paned horizontally sliding sash is also likely to date to the early 19th century. A former cartshed doorway to the north now has a full-height modern window in its opening.

Internally, the main house has paired half-glazed doors with a shallow arched radial fanlight to the main entrance within the porch. A vestibule is divided from the inner hall by a Tudor arch. The plan comprises a spinal corridor with a staircase to the right and principal rooms to the rear overlooking the garden, with two smaller rooms flanking the entrance. The house retains much of its original early 19th-century detail, including a fine dogleg staircase and other joinery comprising panelled doors with deep panelled jambs and soffits, and panelled reveals to windows. Plasterwork cornices adorn the principal rooms, and original fireplaces survive. A clear hierarchy of detail, simplifying towards the service end of the house, is also notable.

A stained glass staircase window features paired lights. The left light bears the Royal coat of arms with the initials G R above and the date Aug VIII MDCCCXXI below, commemorating the accession of George IV to the throne. The right-hand window also bears a coat of arms with the initials B/H W above and the date March X MDCCCXXX below.