The rectory that stands today was constructed in 1829, but roughly twenty-six metres to its east, the foundations of a sixteenth-century predecessor lie buried and undetected at ground level, a quiet archaeological fact that most people walking the churchyard would never suspect.

The detail comes from Adams, writing in 1881, who noted both the date of the newer rectory and the approximate position of its forerunner. The relationship between the two buildings is a small but telling reminder of how ecclesiastical sites tend to accumulate layers, with one structure replacing another across the centuries while the general location remains in continuous use. A rectory, in this context, would have been the formal residence provided for the rector of the parish, a practical necessity tied to the administration of church lands and the conduct of parish life. The sixteenth-century building at Santry predates any significant period of plantation-era church reform in the area, and while nothing is known from the notes about what it looked like or how long it remained in use, its documented position suggests it was identifiable as a discrete site at least into the nineteenth century, when Adams was gathering his observations.

For anyone visiting St Pappan's, the church itself provides the main point of orientation. The 1829 rectory and the buried remains of its predecessor are not marked or interpreted on site, and there is nothing to see at ground level where the older structure once stood. Knowing the approximate offset, roughly twenty-six metres to the west of the current building, gives the curious visitor a rough mental map, though the significance here is more archival than visual. The site rewards a particular kind of attention, the sort that finds interest not in what is on display but in what the historical record quietly preserves.