In 1756, a society of ringers at East Haddon — each man over fifty years of age — rang the first ever recorded peal on five bells: 5,040 changes completed in three hours and ten minutes. What interests me as an architect is the discipline involved. A peal is a mathematical structure rung in real time — every sequence unique, every transition dependent on the one before it, the whole pattern held in the ringers' bodies and memories without a score. Architecture demands the same kind of sustained, systematic attention. The Church of St Mary, Grade II* listed, dates from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, its nave and south aisle built in coursed lias with a west tower. A chancel restoration of the 1870s was followed by further work by E.F. Low in 1877. The village sits west of Northampton.
Award-winning Architects in East Haddon
Systematic Design, Published Work
Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal — work united by the conviction that good design requires the same systematic discipline the East Haddon ringers brought to their peal. 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. The Deerings, a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire, won the RIBA East Award in 2018, the year I was also a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards. In 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards.
Architectural Services West of Northampton
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in East Haddon 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 East Haddon should respond to the proportions and materials of the village's stone buildings. The relationship between the houses, the lanes and the surrounding countryside contributes to a settlement with a quiet, well-composed character. 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 East Haddon the bells are a reminder that complexity emerges from simple elements combined with precision — five bells producing 5,040 unique sequences. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in East Haddon should respect the stone character of the village. 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 discipline that a place of this quality demands.
Renovations in East Haddon engage with a building stock that includes fabric from several centuries. The church's twelfth-century origins and fourteenth-century south arcade sit alongside the Victorian restorations of the 1870s — each intervention adding to the building without erasing what came before. 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.
East Haddon's ringers held 5,040 changes in their heads for over three hours. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.