Graham Roper, landlord of the Swan Inn, bought the vicarage in 1978, and turned it into a guesthouse. It was built in 1962, and was described as a"new building" in the Appreciation. The solar panels in the roof are even newer, and only the cross inset in the front gable reveals its churchly origin. The current vicarage, like the vicar, is in Portesham.
Incidentally, why "Rodden Row" ? The obvious answer might be that this is the road leading to Rodden village, but that is perhaps more true today than it would have been years ago, and in any case the road doesn't lead directly to Rodden. One theory put forward is that "rodden" is a Celtic word for "red soil" ~ that sounds feasible, but while the soil around Abbotsbury is sometimes red, it's not particularly so here in Rodden Row. Alternatively, one of the studies prepared for the Estate in 2002 noted that "another name found for Rodden Row is Sheep Street, perhaps because sheep were regularly driven along it, or penned there for sale". That, however, still doesn't entirely explain the name. A third possibility is that mentioned by the English Place-name Society ~ "Rattonrowe", 1398, i.e. 'rat-row', a common term of reproach found in towns as far apart as Carlisle and Chichester.
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