In 1753, the medieval church at Great Houghton was found to be greatly decayed and was demolished. Its replacement, designed by William and David Hiorne of Warwick, was built the following year in what contemporaries described as a plain, decent and commodious manner, without unnecessary ornament. It is a Georgian classical church in a county of medieval Gothic ones — ironstone ashlar with a west tower, an unaisled nave, and a shallow chancel, all deliberately restrained. What interests me as an architect is what happened next. In the 1870s, restorers added neo-Norman windows to Hiorne's classical building, inserting medieval references into a design that had explicitly rejected medieval ornament. The church, Grade II* listed, now contains both philosophies in a single fabric. The village sits south-east of Northampton.
Award-winning Architects in Great Houghton
Published Work, Honest Intervention
Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal — work that engages with the same question Great Houghton's church embodies: how a new intervention should relate to what already exists. 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 South-East of Northampton
Extension Design in Great Houghton should respond to the ironstone character of the village and the particular quality of a settlement that includes both Georgian and earlier buildings. The relationship between the houses, the lanes and the surrounding countryside contributes to a village with more architectural variety than many in the county. 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 — and should be clear about its own identity rather than imitating what is already there.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Great Houghton the church is a reminder that every generation makes its own choices about how to build — and that the best buildings accommodate those choices without losing their coherence. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Great Houghton should respect the ironstone 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 conviction that the Hiorne brothers brought to their Georgian replacement.
Renovations in Great Houghton engage with a building stock that ranges from the Charles II–era manor house to later ironstone cottages. The village was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1333, and the buildings that stand today represent successive waves of rebuilding. 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 Great Houghton 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 ironstone facades continue to weather as they always have.
Great Houghton's Georgian church chose plainness; the Victorians chose ornament. Both survive in the same walls. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.