Rectory (aspect two), St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze, c1970s

The stone-built nineteenth-century rectory stood on the north side of Hay Lane. It was abandoned in 1956 and stood derelict for many years until it was demolished in the 1980s.

The building replaced a substantial parsonage that stood next to St. Mary’s church that Revd. Richard Miles, Rector of Lydiard Tregoze between 1780 and 1839 considered unfit to live in. The Lydiard Archives hold several images of the Rectory and a fond account (Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report no 30) by Margaret North ne Willets whose father was rector between 1936 – 1955.  

Reflecting on their arrival Margaret wrote: ‘We were enchanted with the house and the glorious garden. After our town garden in Hull this beautiful garden, lovingly tended by Mr Shades of Purton, was a glimpse of heaven. The herbaceous borders were a riot of colour. The rose beds and lawns were expertly tended and, joy of joys, there was a grass tennis court and a round summer house with a thatched roof.’