When the medieval church at Evenley was demolished in the 1860s, the monuments were saved. A more than life-size marble statue of Sir Creswell Levinz, a barrister and judge who died in 1701, was lifted from the old building and re-set in the new one — Henry Woodyer's Gothic Revival church of St George, completed in 1865. What interests me as an architect is what that act of salvage reveals about priorities: the medieval building was considered expendable, but the memory it held was not. The monument survived the architecture that housed it. At the heart of the village lies the green, bought by the parish council in 1961 and registered as a Village Green to protect it for the community. The village sits south of Brackley.
Award-winning Architects in Evenley
Preserving What Matters
The Deerings, a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire, won the RIBA East Award in 2018 — a project where every decision was made with long-term performance in mind. 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. I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards in 2018, and in 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards. Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal.
Architectural Services Near Brackley
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in Evenley 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.
Renovations in Evenley engage with a building stock that includes the seventeenth-century manor house and later stone construction around the green. The deserted medieval village of Astwick lies within the parish, a reminder that settlements do not always endure — and that the buildings which survive do so because they continued to be useful. 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.
Extension Design in Evenley should respond to the proportions and materials of the village's stone buildings and the relationship between the houses and the green at their centre. 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 Evenley the replacement of the medieval church demonstrates that even radical change can be carried out with respect — if the things that matter are identified and preserved. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Evenley 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 sit comfortably in a landscape shaped by centuries of careful stewardship.
Evenley demolished its medieval church but saved the monument inside it. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.