In a north aisle window of the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Helmdon, a fragment of medieval stained glass preserves the figure of a mason. He looks out from a building he may have helped to construct — a Decorated Gothic church whose nave and aisles date from the thirteenth or fourteenth century. What interests me as an architect is that someone thought a craftsman worth commemorating in glass. Medieval stained glass typically depicts saints, prophets and biblical scenes; a mason is unusual, and his presence here suggests a community that valued the people who built for them. The church, Grade II* listed, stands on the eastern side of the village, which the River Tove divides with its flanking meadows into two distinct parts. The chancel contains a three-bay sedilia and piscina with ogee cusped heads, crocketed hood moulds and pinnacles — Decorated Gothic carving of exceptional quality that survives alongside the mason's portrait in the glass above.
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The Builders' Perspective
Architecture begins with understanding how buildings are made — the materials, the junctions, the way a wall meets the ground. That conviction, which the Helmdon mason would have recognised, runs through everything our practice does. 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. Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal.
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Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Helmdon the mason's portrait is a reminder that buildings are made by people for people — and the best buildings honour that relationship across the centuries. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Helmdon should respond to the stone character of a village that the River Tove divides into two. 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 craftsmanship that the medieval builders here considered worth recording in glass.
Extension Design in Helmdon should respond to the stone character and proportions that give the village its coherence on both sides of the Tove. The meadows along the river create a natural separation, and the buildings on each bank sit in different relationships to the water and the landscape beyond. An extension should respond to that 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 while sitting comfortably within the village fabric.
Renovations in Helmdon engage with a building stock shaped by the village's position along the Tove. The church, its tower rebuilt in 1823 and restored again in 1876, demonstrates the ongoing programme of maintenance and repair that keeps a medieval building in use. The stone cottages and houses throughout the village use the local limestone with the proportions typical of this part of south Northamptonshire. 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 stone cottages in Helmdon 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.
Helmdon's medieval mason looked out from the glass of the building he helped create. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.