DR CHRISTOPHER WREN was rector of the Wiltshire village of East Knoyle for 20 years and it was during that time that his son, the future astronomer, geometrician, physicist, mathematician and architect, was born on October 20, 1632. Local lore suggests Wren’s birthplace was knocked down during a project to widen the road— a plaque stands in the village today—but the current Old Rectory is equally charming. The Grade II-listed property, just launched on the market by Strutt & Parker, dates back in part to the Tudor period (there is a Tudor arched doorway with transom light); an extension was added in the 1930s by Canon Cross when he moved out of the original rectory.
The size and the level of craftsmanship detailed within suggests The Old Rectory was always intended to be a house of importance. Sold out of Church ownership in 1976, when a parish reorganisation merged those of nearby Hindon, Chicklade and Pertwood, it was bought at that time by the current owners. They have created what Annabel Blackett of Strutt & Parker’s country department describes as the perfect family home. ‘It’s well suited for modern family life: the internal layout has ample space for entertaining, with a generous dining and drawing room, a quiet library and five good-sized bedrooms.’ A large eat-in kitchen, with units designed by Smallbone of Devizes, sits in the centre.
Denne historien er fra March 15, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 15, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
