Our lovely client's section contains the 18th Century glorious staircase and a wealth of features from all these periods. When they said they wanted to create a home out of the restored property, the question was which period to restore to.

It meant our Archtects had to turn into Detectives to fully and sympathetically understand the building and its history in order to convince not just the Local Authority planning department and Historic England of the proposed resoration scheme's merit, but also the Crown Estate who had granted the lease.

We were greatly helped by the previous owner who had astonishingly gained planning permission for some extensive work in the attic which we discovered included the removal of Tudor trusses and the covering up of much of the historial features. Once the approved historical vandalism was pointed out and that our resoration scheme was designed to enhance rather than destroy the historical context, the required permission were granted.

Naturally during the course of the renovation, unexpected features and details were revealed, some were discarded as historical abominations such as the Ministry of Works subdivisions of the medieval gallery. Others truely revealed their historical significance and were incorporated incuding largly lost panelling which was restored and reinstated.

With thorough research, careful design, great craftsmanship and clever implementation, the property came together as a truely historical space for modern living.