The Church of St Andrew in Spratton is a Grade I listed building that records over nine centuries of architectural thinking in stone. The earliest surviving fabric — parts of the west wall, a tower window, the south door — dates from the Norman period, when the original building was enlarged and strengthened around 1120. The bell tower followed towards the end of the twelfth century; a north aisle was added; a south aisle came in the fourteenth century; the chancel in the early sixteenth. In 1847, Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the interior and rebuilt the north porch. What interests me as an architect is not merely the age of the building but the fact that every generation found a way to add to it without destroying what came before. That is not a given — it requires understanding, care and a respect for what the previous builders achieved. Inside the chancel, an alabaster effigy of Sir John Swinford, who fought alongside the Black Prince and died in 1371, still lies as it was placed over six hundred years ago. Spratton's church is a building that rewards the attention architects ought to give it.
Award-winning Architects in Spratton
The Same Discipline, Applied Today
The principle that every generation should add to a building without diminishing what came before is not just a philosophy for churches — it is the discipline that runs through every project our practice takes on. Whether the building is a Grade II listed cottage or a new home designed from scratch, the ambition is the same: something that will still be worth maintaining in a hundred years. 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 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.
Architectural Services in a Conservation Village
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Spratton it connects to a church that has been sustained — and improved — across nine centuries. That is what sustainable architecture means at its most fundamental: building well enough to be worth maintaining, and maintaining what you build well enough to be worth adapting. The stone cottages and houses along the older lanes of the village embody the same principle on a domestic scale. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design within the conservation area must respect the stone character and modest proportions that give Spratton its coherence. 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 within a landscape that the church has overlooked since Norman times.
Renovations in Spratton engage with a village whose building stock spans several centuries of construction. The stone properties along the older lanes use the local palette — ironstone and limestone — with the solid-wall construction typical of this part of Northamptonshire. Spratton Hall, Grade II listed and dating from the late eighteenth century, was built with limestone from Kingsthorpe. The cottages are more modest in scale but no less considered in their construction. West Northamptonshire Council handles planning for the parish. Through my membership of SPAB, I approach these buildings as Gilbert Scott approached the church: understanding what is already there before deciding what to change, and ensuring that the intervention makes the building better rather than merely different.
Extension Design in the conservation area should respond to the materials and proportions that give the village its character. The stone buildings, the scale of the cottages, the relationship between the houses and the lanes — all contribute to a streetscape that any extension should complement. Whether the brief is a ground-floor extension that connects 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 conservation area.
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The stone cottages in Spratton present the familiar challenge of solid-walled construction: thick walls with no insulation, draughty junctions, and a building envelope designed for ventilation rather than thermal retention. 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.
Every generation in Spratton has added something worth keeping. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.