living the Old Rectory dream - classical proportions, symmetry and natural light

The C18th was the best age for the English vicarage as the educated Anglican clergy was now living in comfort, in the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14). Firstly Queen Anne's Bounty was a fund established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer Church of England clergy. The bounty was funded by the tax on the incomes of all Church of England clergy. Secondly her Tory ministers supported the Church of England by using the Coal Tax to build magnificent new churches in London designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, James Gibbs and others. And they introduced tithes to support parish churches and clerics throughout the country.

Old Rectory at Wingfield in Wiltshire 
first built in 1539 and substantially renovated in c1790.  
Sold by the Church in 1974

During King George III's reign (1760- ), an Act of Parliament was passed to “promote Residence of the Parochial Clergy by making provisions for the more speedy and effectual building, repairing or purchasing Houses and other necessary buildings and Tenements for the use of their benefices”.

Clearly the C18th led to a great burst of parsonage building or refurbishing, so I went through Country Life magazine for the last five years, and analysed every single C18th ex-rectory that had been published. It was a labour of love since, as anyone who read my blog posts on ex-rectories would know, this is my favourite form of housing. And none more so than the handsome Old Rectory at Wingfield, near Bradford on Avon, in Wiltshire.

Old vicarages, and all the Church of England's defrocked plant, were in hot demand. While it was very sad that the Church had to lose its clerics' homes, I do understand these substantial homes suggested permanence and stability to historically minded buyers, and an evocative past.

A detailed history of the parish in the County of Wilshire was fascinating. The church of St Mary lay at the south-east end of Wingfield Village, consisting of a chancel, nave, west tower, south porch and a vestry. With the exception of the 15th century tower and chancel arch, the building dated from the C17th, and all the windows except one were from then. The later vestry, built on the north side, housed an organ that was installed by the 5th Earl Temple of Stowe. There was a private school at Wingfield from 1800, kept by the rector, Rev Edward Spencer. In 1833 there was a (second?) school at Wingfield, supported by voluntary contributions and attended by 25 children.

Now let me quote Country Life (5/3/2014). Built of Bath stone under a distinctive slate-and-stone mansard roof, the handsome Georgian rectory, listed Grade II, was originally owned by Keynsham Abbey until the Dissol­ution in 1539, and eventually bought in a ruinous condition by Rector Edward Spencer in the late 1700s. According to parish records, Spencer rebuilt the house at considerable expense in a plain substantial manner for his own residence. His smart new rectory, which sat near the church of St Mary, was soon the focal point of life in the village.

The Old Rectory was at the end of Church Lane in Wingfield village, in an area of particular natural beauty in the Avon green belt. It lay to the south of the picturesque Saxon town of Bradford-on-Avon, through which the Kennet & Avon Canal passed, and to the west of Trowbridge. The historic world heritage city of Bath provided all the services that the vicar could have needed.

Even after its sale by the Church in 1974, the Old Rectory took up a lot of land. It had six acres of gardens, hedges, mature trees, copses and pasture, and views across open countryside to the famous White Horse at Westbury.

The house was spacious and well-proportioned, with the main reception rooms, country kitchen and orangery-breakfast room on the ground floor. The first floor housed bedrooms, a bathroom and a study; the second floor had more bedrooms. The vicar had either a very large family or a lot of church visitors who needed to stay in his home.

Old Rectory at near Cradley, near Malvern in Worcestershire

Photo credit: Wolsey Lodges

The Wingfield property was entranced through wrought iron gates hinged on two substantial stone pillars flanked by a stone boundary wall. The Old Rectory was a delightful Grade II Listed Georgian family house constructed of Bath stone elevations under slate and stone mansard roofs. The front of the building dated from the 1780s although the rear parts were older. Flagstone terraces were laid out in front.

Large sash windows and a garden door with an attractive fan light characterised the front facade which faces the south. Stunning far-reaching views extended across farmland to the Westbury White Horse. The archit­ecture was typical C18th, with fireplaces surrounded by stone, cornicing, panelled doors and large sash windows.

A key feature of The Old Rectory was a purpose-built oak barn with slate roof incorporating exposed beam and plaster elevations, and a first floor with floor-to-ceiling windows in the gable ends. I am in love... and am already discussing with the moving people where my book and painting collections will go. The library in my Old Rectory will have to be spacious, filled with natural light and comfortable.

An  1835 survey found c2,000 rectories across Britain were unfit for humans. Newly installed vicars often reported flooding, squatters, wood rot, rising damp or poison from the grave yards. So was that the end of the Anglican rectory, its resident family and perhaps the entire Church of England? 

Georgian rectory in the Oxfordshire countryside

and adjoining chapel.

Social History of the Victorian Parson (Amberley, 2015) discussed the Victorian parson in a rapidly changing world. The Church battled on to remain in the centre of UK’s affairs and took on new responsibilities. After a series of reforms, the nature of the Anglican parson's appointment and tenure changed and the typical parson was now resident, well educated, public-spirited. Campaigning for new schools, healthier living conditions and humanitarian values, the vicar very often championed the lower classes. This was despite remote, hostile communities, churches that were unfit for purpose and uncooperative local landowners.

light, spacious entry of The Vale, Berks

photo credit: Curbed

The impressive cultural and literary history of rectories has been examined separately.