Building record 1203300000 - ST OSYTH'S, PARSON'S FEE

Grade II. Formerly Prebendal Farm. House to north C17-18, Barn (part house) in centre C16 and 17. Barn to South C17. All joined and following curve of road. House - two storeys and attic. Colourwashed brick on projecting chamfered plinth. String at first floor level. Moulded brick eaves cornice. Old tile roof. Two hipped dormer, two-light leaded casements. Five windows on first floor, all four-light mullioned and transomed with modern lights. Four similar segmental-headed windows on ground floor, each with four-panel shutters six-panel door to left hand in plain frame, with frieze and cornice hood. The two barns are timber framed with colourwashed brick infilling, and old tile roof, lower than house. 4 bays. Interior of house has contemporary doors and fireplaces. The barns appear now to have been incorporated in the dwelling (B1).
The former vicarage, now called St Osyth's, adjoins the Prebendal House on Parson's Fee. The prebendary, or parson had the right to collect a tenth, or 'tithe' of the crops of other farmers in the parish. At the inclosure of Aylesbury in 1772 the prebendary received a 272-acre allotment of land either side of the Oxford Road in lieu of his right to collect tithes. The vicarage house appears to have been used as the farmhouse for this land until a new Prebendal Farm was built beside the Oxford Road in the mid-19th century. There is still a tithe barn behind St Osyth's [CASS 04092] (B2).


St Osyth's, formerly the Prebendal Farm, is partly timber-framed, and partly of brick. The roofs are tiled. The plan follows the curve of the road in front, and consists of three blocks. The middle block, containing the kitchen and domestic offices, is rectangular, and is probably a remaining fragment of a late C16th building. The South block, now used as an outhouse, is also rectangular, but somewhat smaller, and was added ca.1650. The North, or main, block was built late in the C17th. It is of a modified L-shape with the inner angle facing SW. The North block is of two storeys with an attic, built of late C17th brick. The middle block is lower than the North block, and has black timber-framing with whitewashed brick infilling. The South block is also two-storeyed, but is lower than the middle block to allow for the slope of the ground. It is of narrow timbers with whitewashed brick filling. Behind the house is a large six-bayed barn, probably of late C16th date, timber-framed and covered with weather-boarding. The roof is tiled and has queen-post trusses. Condition - of the North and middle blocks good; of the South block, poor, the upper floor being too dangerous for use; of the barn, poor (B3).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.