The Old Rectory (or Old Parsonage) is an early building in

St Andrews Major St. Andrew's Major () is a village and parish in the community of Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan, between Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and Cardiff in south-eastern Wales. Description The village has a church (building), church which i ...

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, which was originally the house for the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

s of St Andrews Church.

History and description

The building is believed to date from the 15th century and has two double-light windows either side of the door, which were probably brought from the next door church at this time. The building is L-shaped with two storeys, built of stone rubble and

limewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

ed externally. When it was first described in 1771 the Rectory was partially tiled and partially thatched, though it currently has a slate roof. The 1771 record lists a hall, parlour, kitchen, cellar, dairy and brewhouse on the ground floor, with four chambers and a grain store above. While the two stone mullioned trefoil windows are original, the other openings are 19th century. In the 1800s the building became a carriage house. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

the Rectory's occupant, Dr

Hugh Lloyd Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...

, was captured on the battlefield at the nearby

Battle of St Fagans The Battle of St Fagans was a pitched battle during the Second English Civil War in 1648. A detachment from the New Model Army defeated an army of former Parliamentarian soldiers who had rebelled and were now fighting against Parliament. B ...

of 1648. After he was released at the end of the war he became

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a ...

. A substantial new Rectory was built in 1830, replacing the Old Rectory,Chrystal Tilney, ''Dinas Powys, St Andrews Major and Michealston-le-Pit From Old Photographs'', p. 18 hence the Old Rectory became a carriage house in the garden of the new residence. The Old Rectory gained a Grade II*

heritage listing This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

in 1963, as a "very rare medieval rectory" having group value with the church and other buildings.

References

{{coord missing, Glamorgan 15th-century religious buildings and structures Clergy houses in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in the Vale of Glamorgan Houses in the Vale of Glamorgan Dinas Powys