Old House Project

At the end of 2023, minor revisions to the consent for the Old House Project (OHP) were approved by Maidstone Council. This cleared the way for the remainder of work to proceed in 2024. Still left to complete are an opening and ancillary structures at the east end, new services including solar panels and a heat pump, internal works including insulation and secondary glazing, and landscaping and boundary work to fulfil a planning condition. The last phase of repair to the exterior, at the end of 2023, involved the installation of windows.

Our Old House Project is rescuing and repairing a Grade II* building ‘at risk’, but it is the education and training, and the opportunity to demonstrate the SPAB Approach to building conservation, that give it added value for us. The skilful work carried out by the many craftspeople involved in the project so far has exemplified SPAB principles. That most recently undertaken by Owlsworth IJP and their subcontractors adds to the range of materials and techniques on show.

During the late spring and early summer, work at the Old House Project (OHP) moved forward steadily - but gently - in the hands of the very capable craftspeople at Owlsworth IJP. Stonemason Jim Roberts continued masonry repairs and carpenter Callum McCaffrey applied his skills to window joinery. Volunteer Mark Murthwaite-Price oversaw the burning of local grey chalk in our field kiln to produce quicklime for mortar. As July approached, Mark upped his output significantly to stockpile lime for our Boxley Abbey Working Party week.