The Old Rectory

Rural church houses were often built in the best setting that their village could offer but The Old Rectory has a truly exceptional one. Completed in 1846, the property looks out over a swathe of idyllic, beautiful Devon countryside that has probably remained unchanged for over 200 years.
The senior architect in the West of England, John Hayward (1807–1891), who specialised in the Gothic Revival style, was commissioned to design and oversee the project and the gorgeous property he created is almost unchanged today.
The Old Rectory is built of snacked mudstone with Hatherleigh stone detailing under a Welsh slate roof. It incorporates impressive ground floor bay windows, a moulded cornice with Tudor motifs, stone mullion windows and a porch interior tiled with coloured and shaped tiles.
Although asymmetrical, the house feels balanced and incorporates a secondary wing that originally housed the domestic staff. That design would now easily facilitate the creation of a separate annexe of either one or two floors.
However, the jewel in its crown must surely be the house's position, which is set up on the side of a valley and south-facing so that the two main reception rooms, the kitchen/breakfast room and all the main bedrooms look out on this stunning view. The interior of the house is equally splendid with carved stone fireplaces in the drawing and sitting rooms, detailed and deep cornicing and abundant period joinery including a lovely oak front staircase. Unsurprisingly such a special house is Grade II* listed and it has retained a
vast array of original architectural features down to the cobbled floors and original wine bins in the cellars.
It has been the much-loved home of the current owners for the past ten years and during that time an extensive programme of sympathetic refurbishment has been undertaken to create a truly charming and characterful home.

Garaging, garden & grounds
What really sets The Old Rectory apart from other properties are its setting and grounds, which give a sense of seclusion and privacy, whilst also providing an idyllic and truly magical setting for people of all ages but especially for children. The Old Rectory is approached down a long private tarmac driveway leading to a gravel parking area beside a garage block incorporating a single garage and two carports.
The garden and grounds surround the house and amount to about 2 acres (0.81 hectares). The formal garden is level and extends out from the south and east sides of the house and consists of lawn fringed at intervals by shrub and rose borders supplemented on three sides by a screen of mature trees including a fine Monterey cypress, oak, holm oak, yew and hornbeam. These provide complete privacy with the fourth side completely open to the view. In the east lawn is a former swimming pool, now filled in to serve as an
attractive rose bed.
Beyond it is a stream and a partly sloping paddock containing an orchard of apple, pear and plum trees. Opposite the porch on the south side of the house is a flight of broad stone steps that descends to a narrow, lower lawn and the southern, fenced boundary (in its heyday this was the site of the carriage turning circle for the front drive). Behind the house is a bank with a woodland walk at the top leading to the private upper lawn and a timber greenhouse.

The Old Rectory is situated on the southern edge of the small, pretty village of Down St. Mary, which has a 15th century church. Two miles away, the larger village of Copplestone has a convenience store and post office, farm shop, primary school, garage, surf shop and a railway station on the Tarka Line running between Barnstaple and Exeter.
Most day to day requirements can be found in the local market town of Crediton, just minutes away, which has excellent amenities, including medical, dental and veterinary surgeries, a leisure centre, two supermarkets and an award-winning farmers and artisanal market.
There is a wide choice of schooling locally both from the state and independent sectors including the highly regarded Blundells in Tiverton and the Maynard School, Exeter School and Exeter Cathedral School in Exeter.
For transport links the railway stations in Crediton and Tiverton Parkway provide services to Paddington (2 hours 25 minutes) and Waterloo (2 hours 35 minutes) respectively. Exeter Airport (14.1 miles) offers national and international air connections, including a daily, 1 hour service to London City Airport.

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