Most medieval churches expanded by extending the chancel or raising the tower. At All Saints in Yelvertoft, the builders went sideways. Around 1330, north and south aisles were added to the twelfth-century nave. Then, in the fifteenth century, a second south aisle was added alongside the first — an unusual decision that made the interior almost as broad as it is long. What interests me as an architect is the pragmatism of that response. The community needed more space, and rather than demolishing what existed, they simply added to it. Each addition used the materials to hand and respected the proportions of what was already there. The church, Grade I listed, sits at the eastern end of the High Street — a road that follows the course of an ancient route known as Salters Way, a reminder that Yelvertoft's position on a long-distance route has shaped the settlement since well before the Domesday survey recorded it in 1086.
Award-winning Architects in Yelvertoft
Heritage Repair to Certified Passivhaus
Our work ranges from a Grade II listed barn restoration in Buckinghamshire to a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire — The Deerings, which won the RIBA East Award in 2018. What connects these projects is the same discipline: understanding what exists before proposing what might change. 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. I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards, and 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 Near Daventry
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in Yelvertoft 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.
Extension Design in Yelvertoft should learn from the church's own example — adding space by working with what exists rather than against it. The High Street's linear character, running three-quarters of a mile from the church to the village hall along the line of Salters Way, gives the village a clear grain. An extension should respond to that grain — its orientation, its materials, its proportions. 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.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Yelvertoft the church's double south aisle is a lesson in incremental growth done well. Two centuries of expansion, each addition respecting the last, producing a building that reads as generous rather than awkward. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Yelvertoft should respond to the stone character of the village and the long views from the ridge. For sites in the countryside around the parish, where the Grand Union Canal's Leicester arm threads through the landscape with its surviving wharf buildings, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework provides a route to architecturally outstanding homes — but the design must demonstrate the quality that justifies building in open countryside.
Renovations in Yelvertoft engage with a building stock that includes the medieval core around the church and the properties along the High Street. The twelfth-century nave, built of local cobblestones, is the oldest fabric in the village — and the fact that it was good enough to build upon, twice, tells you something about the quality of the original work. West Northamptonshire Council handles planning for the parish. Through my membership of SPAB, I approach these buildings with the understanding that solid stone walls have their own behaviour — how they manage moisture, how they carry load — and any renovation must work with that rather than against it.
Yelvertoft's church grew sideways, twice, and the result is a building almost as broad as it is long. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.