What strikes me about Mere is how much of its architecture tells the story of material passed from one use to another. When Richard, Earl of Cornwall, built his castle on the hill above the village in 1253, the stone came from the Chilmark quarries a few miles to the east — the same fine-grained limestone that would later build Salisbury Cathedral. The castle stood for barely two centuries before it fell into ruin, and much of that Chilmark stone found its way back into the village below, reappearing in cottage walls, boundary structures and the fabric of buildings that still stand today. As an architect, I find that cycle of use and reuse deeply compelling. It speaks to something we try to practise in every project: the understanding that good materials deserve to be worked carefully, maintained honestly, and given the longest possible life.
Award-winning Architects in Mere
An Architect's Practice Shaped by Heritage and Sustainability
Mere holds two Grade I listed buildings — the Church of St Michael the Archangel, with its commanding fifteenth-century tower visible across the valley, and Woodlands Manor, a remarkably complete late medieval manor house whose hall block dates to around 1370–1380. Working in a village with that concentration of nationally significant heritage demands an architect who understands how medieval stone structures were built, how they move, and how they can be adapted without losing what makes them valuable. I founded Gresford Architects in London in 2006 and later moved to Oxford, where projects like The Great Barn in Buckinghamshire — a Grade II listed barn restoration — and The Old Orchard in Oxfordshire, an EnerPHit retrofit featured in The Modern House Journal, have shaped our approach to buildings that carry centuries of history. I am ARB-registered and RIBA Chartered, and my training with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings informs how we read older structures: their lime mortars, their moisture pathways, their structural logic. Being a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards in 2018, and earning the RIBA East Award for The Deerings in the same year, confirmed what we had already come to believe — that heritage sensitivity and energy performance are not opposing forces but aspects of the same careful, considered design process.
Architectural Services for Homes in Mere
Renovations sit at the heart of what we do in a conservation area like Mere, where the built fabric spans from medieval Chilmark stone through to Victorian commercial buildings that arrived when the village prospered as a coaching stop on the London to Exeter road. Listed building consent through Wiltshire Council is required for any works affecting a listed structure, and within the conservation area itself — designated since 1976 — even unlisted buildings are subject to controls that protect the village's character. Our experience with heritage projects means we understand both the regulatory landscape and the physical reality: how a fourteenth-century rubble stone wall behaves differently from a nineteenth-century brick one, how lime mortar needs to breathe, how centuries of settlement have created floors and roof lines that no longer sit level. Whether the project involves one of Mere's older stone buildings or a later Victorian property along the high street, the approach begins with the building — its materials, its history, and what it needs to serve another generation well.
EnerPHit offers a rigorous, evidence-based framework for improving the energy performance of existing buildings, and for the solid stone walls that define much of Mere's older housing stock, getting the retrofit strategy right is critical. Chilmark stone is a porous limestone, and a wall built from it manages moisture in a particular way — internal or external insulation must be positioned to respect that moisture pathway, not block it. An EnerPHit retrofit combines careful insulation detailing with improved airtightness and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, achieving dramatic reductions in heating demand while maintaining healthy indoor air quality. For a village where many buildings have stood for centuries precisely because their construction allows the stone to breathe, we design retrofits that enhance thermal performance without compromising the fabric that has kept them standing.
Extension Design in Mere requires a clear response to the existing building and the conservation area context. A stone cottage whose proportions were established in the eighteenth century has its own rhythm of wall and window, mass and light, and an extension that ignores those relationships will always feel like an afterthought. The later Victorian and Edwardian properties along the village's commercial streets present different opportunities — often with generous plots and construction that can accommodate a more contemporary intervention. Sustainable Design underpins every project we take on, treating energy efficiency, material selection, and long-term durability not as add-ons but as fundamental design decisions. In a village whose oldest buildings were made from stone quarried and reused over seven centuries, sustainability is not a modern imposition — it is the local tradition, expressed in different terms.
The Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape wraps around much of the countryside surrounding Mere, and for anyone considering new construction in the rural land beyond the village, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets a high bar: new homes in the open countryside must demonstrate truly exceptional architectural quality that enhances the immediate setting. We have designed homes under Paragraph 84 that respond to exactly this kind of challenge, working with local materials and the character of the surrounding landscape. New Build Design within the village itself must sit alongside centuries of stone and brick without mimicking them, finding a contemporary language that respects the proportions and material palette that give Mere its coherence. PassivHaus Design delivers the highest standard of thermal performance for new construction, achieving year-round comfort with minimal heating demand through meticulous attention to fabric, airtightness, and orientation — homes that are comfortable, economical to run, and joyful to live in.
If you are considering a project in Mere — whether that means bringing new life to one of the village's medieval stone buildings, improving a Victorian property, or creating something new within this richly layered conservation area — we would welcome the conversation.