Excavations near the Church of St Peter at Isham have uncovered Samian ware, tesserae and Roman building materials — the remnants of a substantial building that stood on or very close to the same ground where the medieval church now rises. What interests me as an architect is the continuity that implies. The Romans chose this site, above the River Ise, and built something worth finishing with mosaic floors. Over a thousand years later, the medieval builders chose the same ground for their church — a building that has itself been standing since the late twelfth century. The church, Grade II* listed, is built of coursed limestone and ironstone with ashlar dressings, its chancel retaining a thirteenth-century four-light window with Y-tracery. Isham takes its name from the river — the Old English for the homestead on the Ise — and the settlement has been shaped by this crossing point since before the Domesday survey recorded it in 1086.
Award-winning Architects in Isham
Published Work, Practical Range
Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal — work that ranges from a Grade II listed barn restoration in Buckinghamshire to a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire and shares the principle that understanding the ground you are building on is where architecture begins. 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 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.
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Extension Design in Isham should respond to the dual material character that the church itself demonstrates — limestone and ironstone together, with ashlar dressings at the important junctions. The village sits where different stone beds meet, and the older houses use both materials with the assurance that comes from local knowledge. An extension should show the same understanding. 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.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Isham the Roman tesserae near the church offer a quiet argument for building in the right place. A site that has sustained building for nearly two thousand years has demonstrated its worth — and any new construction should aim for the same longevity. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new build, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Isham should respect the limestone and ironstone character of the village. For sites in the countryside around the parish, where the Ise valley and the ridge above it offer both shelter and prospect, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework provides a route to architecturally outstanding homes — but the design must be worthy of ground that has attracted builders since the Roman period.
Renovations in Isham engage with a building stock shaped by the village's position on the Ise. The church, restored between 1833 and 1843, demonstrates how careful intervention can extend a building's life without erasing its history — the thirteenth-century tracery survives alongside the nineteenth-century porches. The stone cottages and houses throughout the village use the local limestone and ironstone with the proportions typical of this part of the county. North 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 Isham 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.
Isham has been a place of building since the Romans laid mosaic floors above the Ise. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.