September News

We are lucky enough to be completely surrounded by agricultural fields in our barn office in Essex and September has brought the end of a busy harvest, with the tractors working through the night and fields already ploughed and harrowed. Some of us at KPT took the opportunity to pop out and gather some blackberries and damsons to make a few bottles of a little something, to keep out the cold in the long winter months ahead, hic!

Here’s what else we’ve been keeping busy doing this month.

• Lime plastering is progressing well at the C16th Hall House in Essex, with R J Hogg & Sons. The scratch coat is on and calcifying. They are forming the internal partitions and repair the internal walls with first fix going in. The moat, which is an Ancient Scheduled Monument, has been carefully excavated under the guidance of Archaeology and the ground works are in full swing!
Construction Drawings are being undertaken for the repair and alteration works to the C16th Court Barn attached to the house. The scaffolding and ‘tin hat’ is up and over the Court Barn ready for the repairs and re-roofing to begin next month.
• At The Retreat House, Pleshey, Construction Drawings for new en-suite bathrooms for 6 of the bedrooms, and a new wheelchair access shower room for another bedroom are progressing well. The next phase will be the Construction Drawings for a new Meeting Room, which has been designed with a ‘green’ roof of sedum plants. Work is expected to begin on site before the end of the year.
• The PCC at Bush End Church are very pleased with their new Kitchenette, WC and balcony. If you are in the area, please do pop in to have a look. The Church is opposite Hatfield Forest entrance.
• At Radwinter Church, the new WC and Kitchen in the North Vestry are being fitted. The panelling with floral carving details is being fitted. The works will be completed by the end of October, in time for Radwinter Friends Day where they will be unveiling their new facilities.
• Roof Repairs are due to start soon to Little Baddow Church, with scaffolding to be erected during October. We are waiting for the appropriate timing to ensure no bats are present.
• Concept Design drawings are underway for conversion of a little flint and brick outbuilding into a studio/office, adjacent to a beautiful C17th house in Essex.
• We are to meet the DAC advisers at Galleywood Church this month to discuss the best location within the building for their organ.
• Concept Drawings for a Farmhouse in the Lea Valley are nearly complete, with the original features of the house re-instated, and a new two-storey wing replacing an 80s extension.
• The lime plaster at Finchingfield Guildhall is having its pargetting pattern applied. This is pattern being re-done as seen in old photographs. Plaster moulds where taken from a local building which has some original pargetting in the pattern. These are in a variety of sizes, and some are curved to take account of the un-level walls. The pattern is vertical chevron, with horizontal marks made by a wood horse comb. The whole process has been filmed and will be available shortly to see. We had a visit from Heritage Lottery, who are extremely pleased with the conservation work taking place there with KPT & Fairhurst Ward Abbott.
• Construction works to a Grade I Country House in Suffolk are progressing well. Works to the new purpose made woodchip store building have started, which will heat the house sustainably from wood on the Estate. Foundations have been laid for a new Morning Room extension to the existing service wing, and the structural opening up of the Kitchen is complete.
• At the beautiful Grade II Listed Arts and Crafts house in Essex, Concept Design drawings continue for a kitchen/breakfast room extension, incorporating timber details from this decorative house originally designed by famous Architect George Sherrin.
• Whilst Sibyl and Sarah were carrying out the survey of a barn, thought to date to the C17-18th, which sits within the grounds of a Grade II Listed Farmhouse, they made an exciting discovery! Up on the first floor, they found evidence of mullioned windows with shutter rebates, wattle and daub frame grooves and the peg hole on-top of the tie beam indicating it had a crown post. This all signifies that the smaller structure is in fact a lot older that first thought; more like circa 1550, or even older, and was probably built at a similar date to the Hall House.
• Building works to convert the old stables to ancillary accommodation continue at the Grade II Listed former public house in Essex under the guidance of G Illife & Sons. New terracing is being carried out within the grounds and the interiors are ready for decorating, with the bathroom refurbishments nearly complete.
• Works are booked in to start in early October at The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Widdington, with R J Pinnock, who will be building for us a new oak screen in the tower, behind which will be new Kitchen and WC facilities.
• Works to Sibyl’s Grade II Listed Farmhouse, with Downham and Manser, are nearly complete. The house has had new plumbing, expertly installed throughout by A&B (Thaxted) Plumbers, with traditional cast iron radiator. This should make a huge difference to this C17th house which has never had central heating before. The Kitchen has a new breathable floor, with underfloor heating and all the plates and stud feet have been repaired, using conservation techniques.
• The Construction Drawings are due to commence on the highly significant Ancient Scheduled Monument site of Colville Hall. It has an astounding collection of Grade I & Grade II* listed barns and Courthouses, which date back to the C12th, and will be adapted and repaired to create a beautiful countryside wedding venue.
• On Sunday, 16th September, Nicola, dressed in pink hair-band with wobbly hearts, fairy wings and tutu, ran the 10k Race for Life, at Chelmsford Hylands Park, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. She completed in an hour, and Sarah was there to witness the event! Nicola says a big thank you to all who sponsored her.