I have Wordpress installed in a directory within the root. There are legacy files and folders we still use, also in the root.

There is an .htaccess file in the root, and another one in the Wordpress folder. Which one is controlling the Wordpress site?

From my searching (I'll be teh first to admit that I'm no htaccess guru) an htaccess file in a sub directory will override any parameter that is also in a higher directory. Any parameters in the parent htaccess that are not in the child htaccess will still apply