Gawsworth Old Rectory is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Gawsworth Gawsworth is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,705. It is one of the eigh ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. It is known for the rare survival of its " open hall" and the notable 1873 restoration by

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

, and is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The Old Rectory was described as "an exceptionally fine

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

house" by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

History

Gawsworth Old Rectory was built as a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

in c.1470 by 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 ...

George Baguley George Baguley was the Rector (ecclesiastical), rector of St James' Church, Gawsworth, St James' Church, in Gawsworth, Cheshire, from 1470 to his death in 1497. The knight Sir Thomas Fytton (Fitton) of Gawsworth Old Hall served as Baguley's Patron ...

, for the opposite St. James' Church. Sir Thomas Fytton (Fitton), of nearby

Gawsworth Old Hall Gawsworth Old Hall is a Grade I listed building, listed English country house, country house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is a timber-framed house in the Cheshire black-and-white style. The present house was built b ...

served as Baguley's

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, and may have helped to finance the rectory's construction. A dedicated inscription to the Fitton family exists built into one of the fireplaces. Gawsworth - Parish Church

The house was restored first in c.1724 by rector William Hall, and then famously the second time in 1873 by the architect

. The house served as a rectory to St. James' Church until 1953, when rector John R. Harrison left, and the rectory was moved elsewhere.''"Rectors of Gawsworth"

' Gawsworth Old Rectory is now a private house, and not open to the public. It was sold in August 2016 for £3.25 million.

Architecture

The house is Timber framing, timber-framed, and it retains its hall open to the roof. Much of the timber framing is

close studded Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers ( studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels. Rather than being a structural feature, the primary aim of close studding is to ...

and the roof is of plain tiles.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

describes the building as "one of the best preserved medium-sized houses of the period in Cheshire, particularly valuable for the survival of the open hall".

References

External links

Medieval stained glass information from CMVACheshire Photographic ArchiveList of Gawsworth rectorsMarket sale brochure
Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire Houses in Cheshire Grade I listed houses Timber framed buildings in Cheshire {{UK-listed-building-stub

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links