Rectory House (aka The Old Rectory)

Cadw's description

Location

A short distance NW of the church and reached by a track across the field; set on a gentle S facing slope with views over the Ely Valley.

History

Designed by Prichard and Seddon for the Revd Lewis c1857. Glanafon/Glan-yr-Afon in the village was the former rectory. The Ecclesiologist noted in 1857 ''Peterston parsonage by Messrs Prichard and Seddon seems, in its plan, to waste space in the somewhat ambitious staircase and to be far too small in the ''study''. The style is pointed; with the ornamental detail in parts a good deal exaggerated. and a verandah with iron posts and tracery made a part of the original design''. Cost c£1100. Stable range to rear; coach-house adjacent has been converted to a separate dwelling. The rear range was originally single storey but later was raised in twin gables to provide additional bedrooms. The frontage is much as designed and very little altered since it was built, though verandah ironwork was reduced during War. Joinery reputedly made in the Bute workshops,

Exterior

Ruskinian Gothic Rectory. Plan of S porch, verandah to S main frontage and E staircase wing. Built of coursed rockfaced stone with decorative red brick dressings including banding and voussoirs alternating with Bathstone; very steeply pitched main slate roof with swept eaves incorporating 3 very steeply gabled roof dormers with deeply overhanging eaves; 3 tall and thin stacks set astride the ridge. Two storeys and attic and cellar. Steeply gabled 2-storey porch projects to right with 8-pane sash with cusped head to first floor over pointed arched cusped headed main entrance doorway. Set back to left is the main 4-window range with similar windows to first floor, cross-framed windows to the dormers and long 8-pane sashes to ground floor with verandah in front supported by iron posts. The 2-storey half-hipped staircase bay adjoins at right. Rear elevation has twin gables, a later alteration, and shouldered windows.

Interior

Reception rooms to front lead off corridor parallel with frontage; main staircase at E and back stairs at W. Shutters to ground floor rooms retained. The fireplaces are mainly not original but roughly comparable in date, having been saved from various sources including buildings around Cardiff. Panelled doors.

Reason for designation

Listed as a mid C19 rectory distinctively designed in the current style of the ecclesiological movement.