Description

1144/19/133
11-MAY-1983

ALBOURNE
CHURCH LANE
THE RECTORY

II

An C18 rectory with earlier origins, C19 additions, and C20 refurbishment.

Built of brick with rendering, hung tile to a different area and tile roof, the Rectory comprises two parallel ranges with an intersecting crosswing all of two storeys, and a single storey wing to the west, overall forming an L-shaped footprint. The plan of the main part of the house is based on a central hall from which the main and service ground floor rooms open. A similar plan pertains on the first and second floors with bedrooms opening from a main corridor.

EXTERIOR: The front elevation, which at first glance appears to be the side, has a rendered gable end and tile hung section. There are stone steps to a pedimented doorcase with narrow pilasters. The six-panelled door has a rectangular fanlight above. Most apparent on this elevation is the red brick chimneystack, one of four one to the rear and two to the west side of the building. There are two ground floor and three upper floor sash windows to this elevation. The rear (south)elevation illustrates the double pile, one side being tile hung to first floor level and the other red brick with an end stack. There are sash windows to the first floor and a small gable sash. At the ground floor is a bay window with French door and tiled canopy and a second French door. The rendered east elevation presenting a largely symmetrical garden front, and which has been restored, features three windows at ground floor and first floor, the central one blind and concealing what is a two-bay house behind.

INTERIOR: The earliest part of the house was the present-day kitchen and the hall, situated at the middle front of the house (a cellar lies under the hall and is entered from the kitchen, where lathe and plaster of the original kitchen wall can be seen). In the kitchen a beaten earth floor was found beneath the tiles, indicative of a much earlier medieval origin for this part of the building. This probably formed the original rectory. In the C18 a symmetrical wing was added to the east side of this building which is now the study and drawing room. These rooms have refurbished C18 fixtures and fittings including six panelled doors, fire place surrounds, moulded cornices and dado rails. Behind the blind window here a timber post was found supporting the first floor beam which divided the two bays. This part of the building was modernised in the early C19 and a dining room added to the rear of the kitchen. The closed string dog-leg staircase has a turned newel post, plain balusters and hard wood handrail. The first and second floors were also modernised in the period. On the first floor there are plainer C19 moulded cornices and two fireplaces of C19 date.

The single storey room on the west side of the building has the appearance of an agricultural building which has been incorporated into the house. Its timber frame roof has a wall plate, tie beams with raking struts, collar beams with clasped purlins and common rafters exposed. A fireplace has been created at the east end of this room. A pathway which was seen during renovation work in the vicinity of the fireplace shows that this was once outside the original building. The utility room at the end of this room is probably a C19 addition, and timber studding of the external west wall of the former farm building is exposed here. The roof structure of the main part of the building is similar to that of the agricultural building with tie beams with raking struts, collar beams with clasped purlins and common rafters.

On the north side of the house is a stable with coach house on its east side and stabling on the west side. The stable has some wooden panelling of the stalls surviving, a lathe and plaster ceiling and a set brick floor. The impressions of coach wheels can still be seen in the brick of the forecourt. On the west side of the garden is a former stable block now used as store rooms which is evident on the 1874 map as part of the complex. Both are included in the current listing.

HISTORY: The house is now partly C18 with later alterations and extensions. However, archaeological evidence suggests that the Rectory was built on the site of an earlier and smaller dwelling. The first phase of the house was a small building which occupied the area of the later kitchen and perhaps part of the existing hall, shown when tiles in the kitchen were taken up and a beaten earth floor of an earlier building was discovered. The second phase consisted of a C18 enlargement which now covers half the ground floor of the house. The third phase was a C19 refurbishment of the C18 ground floor of the house and the two upper floors. At some time in the late C19 an outbuilding at the extreme west end of the house was incorporated into the building. The Old Rectory was sold by the Church in 1958.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The Old Rectory at Albourne is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Much of the C18 fabric still remains and it is a characterful house of special interest.
* The development of the house can be traced through later additions, and the layers of development can be readily observed.
* C19 fabric contributes to the interest.

Listing NGR: TQ2566016130

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26276756

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)