Harthill Old Rectory - View Restored

It is always interesting looking at the space that a demolished building leaves, however, the recent demolition of Harthill's 'New' Rectory answered a query that had puzzled a couple of us in the Harthill with Woodall Archaeology Group.

We had wondered for some time why the front door of the Old Rectory on Union Street faced a brick wall. The answer became obvious when the 'New' Rectory was recently demolished.

The old 1720 Manorial map of Harthill and an 1844 tithe map of Harthill shows that the land opposite the Old Rectory was glebe land, that was land that was owned by the church.

We know that there was a previous rectory on the site of the current Old Rectory dating back to the 1400s. The current building dates from the 18th century.

The aristocracy, landed gentry and even rectors built residences for themselves with uninterrupted views of the countryside. Look at Chastworth and other grand estates where whole villages were moved out of sight at the whim of a Duke so that they wouldn't spoil the view of the countryside from their grand homes.

As late as the 19th century, the view from Harthill's Old Rectory was uninterrupted. The view from the house had unspoiled views of Woodall and the current view of the house shows what it must have looked like before the New Rectory was built and before the new housing development is completed sometime later this year.

The dip in the field (pictured) beyond the end of Osborne House (on the left) may suggest a possible track might have once existed that led from the old Manor House at Woodall (currently undergoing renovation) to the Rectory and Harthill Church.

The view can currently be enjoyed as it was originally intended from Woodall or from Union Street.

The photo above was taken from directly in front of the War Memorial on Union Street. Directly inline can be seen the old Manor House at Woodall. It is covered in white polythene and scaffolding and is currently being restored. This may have the route that a previous Lord of the Manor took to church on Sundays during the 1400s.