BBC TV Restoration Home features Stanwick Hall
Our refurbishment and alteration project at Stanwick Hall in Northamptonshire is being filmed for the inaugural series of the BBC’s Restoration Home.
There is some more information about the series here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/comingup/restoration-home/ and here http://www.endemoluk.com/news/remarkable-television-builds-new-factual-series-fo
The show is presented by Caroline Quentin, with the assistance of Keiran Long, editor of the Architects Journal and architecture critic for the Evening Standard, so if you live outside London and are not an architect you would never have heard of him!!
It will be interesting to hear views on how the architectural profession is portrayed in this series. We are happy to answer any questions on this or similar schemes we have undertaken
The series will be aired on BBC2Â in the spring of 2011; we will keep the blog up to date as the filming progresses.
More BBC Restoration Home, Blog
January 17th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
I’m really looking forwarding to seeing this programme as my family used to live at Stanwick Hall….it belonged to my Great Grandfather/mother – my Grandmother (deceased) spent the early days of her youth there. Their last name was Hollands.
January 17th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
…Hollands/Gascoyne(sp?) I believe.
April 7th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
I too am looking forwarding to seeing this programme in respect to Stanwick Hall. I have a daily passing view of this building but due to high walls surrounding only ever see the side elevation eaves and the roof. Some years ago this building, I believe, stood derelict and neglected. Hearsay as it that the occupant was given £10,000 pounds to repair the roof to prevent further damage but he blew it on other things and the repair was never effected until change of ownership. Would be nice to know if English Heritage was ever recompensed. Good to see the building lived in and loved by present occupiers.
April 11th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Not heard that one, we will make enquiries of English Heritage!!
June 10th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
My Aunty/Uncle lived there up until about 8-10 years ago with my Grandparents. It was always a family home and never derelict or neglected unless after my Aunty moved and the new owners couldn’t afford the upkeep maybe?
July 19th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
My grandparents,parents,uncle aunt cousins have lived just 50yds along High St Higham Rd all their lives.My sister and I lived in High st until we married and we always return to our lovely village. We always played around the house up the lane and in the fields attached.It was never derelict. Mums cousin interviewed for the prog
July 19th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Air date for the show now announced: BBC2, Tuesday 26 July 2011.
July 19th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
I have just seen the advertisement on tv for stanwick hall’s refurb and it brought a tear to my eye. I lived there before the current owners growing up and it will always have a special place in my heart. My parents tried so hard for so long to have planning permission to restore the hall back to it’s original beauty.
I can assure you the upkeep was never an issue with us as I am sure, as yourself mr. Rickett or the current owners, can tell from the highest standard the cottages were restored to. The only issue was planning permission which we tried so hard to get
I am sure you will achieve this sympathetically and do the hall justice.
If possible I would love to have the email of the current owners if possible? When we moved in ( being 8 years old) my step father and I found and added to a small time capsule in a match box. I would love to know if this has yet been found?
Kindest regards,
Grace Jordan.
July 19th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
And I would also like to apologise for the awful grammar above, I am watching the programme at the moment and wrote in in haste!!
July 19th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I can also assure Mr. Almond we were never granted £10,000 to repair the roof which we “blew”. The hall was indeed empty for 4 years as we were fighting so hard to have planning permission granted.
We wanted to restore the hall back to it’s original state, with a cellar- top floor sweeping staircase, Inglenook fireplace, library etc, however before English heritage had graded the property the hall had unfortunately already been ‘modernised’ decades ago, even though there was almost no trace of any original features. It had since not been touched as we thought best of redecorating and covering existing issues as we wanted to do everything together so as not to expose restored work to the elements for any length of time.
We loved the hall to bits and if you had the chance to see inside the cottages and restored stables, you would appreciate the time and effort we put into the property.
The only reason we sold the hall was due to an unfortunate divorce, where both parties wanted desperately to keep the property.
Kind regards
Grace Jordan
July 19th, 2011 at 10:05 pm
I lived here about 10 years ago (c norman is my cousin.. hey claudette) so, it was not derelict until the family brought it off us. We kept it in good condition.
I’m really interested to see this program as i know the original building plans were lost in a fire. But the house used to face the other way, the back lane was the front approach and the front door used to be the big window at the back, have you reversed the house back? what are you doing with the interior… damnit i cant wait until the 26th
Fredrick…Myleene Klass in lingerie was the only good thing that ever came of hearsay.
July 20th, 2011 at 8:23 am
Mr Almond above is talking about ‘The Rectory’ in Stanwick on Main Rd opposite the church (NOT Stanwick Hall), which became derelict after the Rectors moved to a new rectory. A local family moved in (i went to school with them)they were given a grant but it then fell to rack and ruin(aka Mr Almond). Then bought by a very famous person who had it restored. Has ?same building date as Stanwick Hall i think
July 24th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Stanwick Hall brings back many happy memories, my father taking me up to see Mr Skinner who owned the farm for many years until the early / mid 70′s. Sledging down the hill behind the garage and going to “Top Secret” a lovely place within the Hall’s farm land, lots of fun!
It is wonderful to see this lovely old family house restored.
Regarding the old Rectory, When Rev Eagle moved to the new rectory around “73″ the house was owned / occupied by a Family (The Saddlers, I think) who tried very hard to restore the old Rectory but the
Church had let the house fall into such bad disrepair it would have been very difficult. Then in the late 80′s / early 90′s the Rectory was restored by it’s the current owner.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Hi all, just watched the program, my wife and I have a great interest in old buildings, her from an historical and me from a restoration point of view…what a beautiful building…and a lovely couple who own it, I wonder at some point will there be finished pictures up anywhere? Would love to see the finished product!
Best of luck to the new residents
Chris & Ursula, Dublin.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
I lived in Stanwick until I was 18, when I left to go to Sheffield University in 1962. My Mum continued to live in the village after my Dad died in 1963 and did meals on wheels with Mr Skinner who had farmed at Stanwick Hall until he retired. They always referred to each other very correctly as Mrs Ward and Mr Skinner, both in their 80′s and delivering meals to “old people” in their 60′s. They would take a picnic lunch to eat on their rounds. Dick Skinner was a real gentleman, and it saddened everyone in the village when he died in tragic circumstances.
July 27th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
We too would be very interested to see photos taken after filming was finished. It’s a very beautiful house with “deserving-looking” new owners!
July 27th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
The architects Smiths of Warwick had a habd in building Harrowden Hall and the staircase there was built under their supervision. They also Had an influence on Hinnwick House just into Bedfordshire. Harrowden Hall is the HQ of Wellingborough Golf Club and is open to the public
August 1st, 2011 at 8:19 am
I was very interested in the programme. I was born in Stanwick and lived a few 100 yards along the road in high Street. I was a bit disappointed to see no reference to Mr Skinner who lived there from about the 1930s to his retirement in the 1970s. he was a real gentleman and I remember working for him as a summer job in 1952. like many others I spent a happy childhood playing in the fields. It would be most interesting to see the finished restoration. As the current owners have a charity, would it be a good idea to open the house to the public for donations to the charity.
August 1st, 2011 at 9:39 am
Thanks for your interest in seeing more photos of the completed project. There’s still quite a lot of work to be done so don’t expect anything soon. However, we’ll let the owners know that people would like to be kept in touch with updates.
August 30th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Yes, Martin (Hi! Long time no see!) You are spot on – it was the Old Rectory in Raunds Road that received the grant. However, I seem to remember that the grant was awarded sometime between 1968 and 1970. As far as I can recall, it was a ‘discretionary grant’ and was awarded by Raunds Urban District Council, which was our local authority at the time. The grant was awarded to cover the cost of roof repairs, because the building was listed. As was the case with Stanwick Hall, the roof was made of Collyweston tiles, and was very expensive to replace, even in those days. In the early 80s, the roof was still covered with black plastic sheeting, flapping around in the wind, until it was completely restored.
I really enjoyed the TV programme about Stanwick Hall. It is a shame that the Skinners weren’t mentioned, as they played such a big part in everyday village life. However, there were quite a few other ‘notables’ from the dim and distant past who weren’t mentioned either. If they had mentioned everyone concerned, it would have been a very long programme!
Perhaps the TV Crew will one day return for a special ‘Stanwick Hall revisited’ programme?!