In 1805, William Jessop's three-arch brick aqueduct was opened at Cosgrove, carrying the Grand Junction Canal over the Great Ouse. It collapsed in 1808. Its replacement, the Iron Trunk, was built by Benjamin Bevan using cast iron sections from the Coalbrookdale foundry — the same technology Thomas Telford had proven at Pontcysyllte. It opened in 1811 and still carries the canal today. What interests me as an architect is the lesson: the brick aqueduct looked appropriate but could not take the forces; the iron trough, a frankly engineered solution, has lasted over two centuries. Cosgrove also possesses the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grade I listed, an ancient building chiefly in the Late Norman and Early English styles with an embattled western tower. The village sits on the Northamptonshire border, the canal running through its centre.
Award-winning Architects in Cosgrove
Award-winning Design, Honest Materials
The Deerings, a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire, won the RIBA East Award in 2018 — a house where every material was chosen for how it would perform, not just how it would look. I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards the same year, and in 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards. I founded Gresford Architects in London in 2006, and we now work from Oxford with clients across the country. I am an ARB-registered and RIBA Chartered architect, a member of SPAB — the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings — the Passivhaus Trust and The Green Register. Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal.
Architectural Services on the Northamptonshire Border
Renovations in Cosgrove engage with a building stock shaped by the village's position on the canal and the border. The church's Grade I listing reflects the exceptional quality of its Late Norman and Early English fabric, and any work in the village should be carried out with that standard in mind. The canal brought its own architecture — the aqueduct, the lock keepers' cottages, the bridges — and the village contains both medieval stone and Georgian waterway infrastructure. West Northamptonshire Council handles planning for the parish. Through my membership of SPAB, I approach these buildings with the understanding that solid stone walls manage moisture through their mass and their lime mortar — and that any renovation must work with that behaviour.
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in Cosgrove present the familiar challenge of solid-walled construction: thick walls with no insulation, draughty junctions, and a building envelope that predates any concept of thermal efficiency. Vapour-open insulation, careful airtightness detailing, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can transform them — warmer, quieter, dramatically cheaper to run — while the stone facades continue to weather as they always have.
Extension Design in Cosgrove should respond to the village's dual character — medieval stone alongside canal-era infrastructure. The relationship between the houses, the waterway and the surrounding landscape creates a settlement with a distinctive setting. Whether the brief is a ground-floor extension connecting the house to the garden, a garden room, or additional space above, the design should make the whole building feel more resolved.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Cosgrove the Iron Trunk is a reminder that honest engineering outlasts decorative compromise. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Cosgrove should respect the stone character of the village and the canal landscape that defines it. For sites in the countryside around the parish, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework provides a route to architecturally outstanding homes — but the design must demonstrate the structural honesty that Bevan's iron trough, still standing after two centuries, embodies.
Cosgrove's Iron Trunk replaced a failure with a solution that has lasted two centuries. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.