Mediæval Calverley cleverly resuscitated

Not many mediæval landmarks are cheek by jowl with garages, mid-century houses and bamboo plants. Yet Calverley Old Hall, located in a village between Leeds and Bradford, is at home among the piecemeal landscape. Approaching the property, it appears like a cluster of sandstone cottages, all different heights and orientations. No facade or element is regular: walls are bulging, windows askew and stones dappled with soot and traces of historic features. Inside and out, it’s a patchwork of spaces and forms.

Built and expanded by the prominent Calverley family across centuries, the house was sold in 1754 and divided into workers’ accommodation. The Landmark Trust bought the site in 1981 and minor works were undertaken to create a small holiday let. However, most of the site remained unoccupied and in need of drastic repair. When the building was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2016, it was time to act. Cowper Griffith Architects won the competition to rescue and renovate the building into accessible and sustainable holiday accommodation for 10 people, a community-use space and a one-bedroom flat.

As with Witherford Watson Mann’s acclaimed reinvention of Astley Castle for The Landmark Trust, it was evident that a contemporary solution was needed. Full restoration of Calverley Old Hall would have required speculation and erasure. And it’s unclear, for a building with so many iterations, which period one would restore it to. Both client and architect chose to show the building’s layered fabric and make new interventions intelligible. ‘It has lived and is living’, reflected Landmark’s historian Caroline Stanford.

Establishing circulation and connecting fragmented spaces were the crux of the project. Cowper Griffith Architects tried to decipher the original volumes and routes by studying documentary evidence, working closely with an archaeologist and teasing out clues on site. The renovation has reinstated a first floor level in the Solar Block, positioned front and back doors along the historic cross passage and removed 19th century partition walls and ceilings.

It’s not a scheme with broad strokes. Each space has a distinct history and required unique treatment. The only way to comprehend its complexity and nuance is to explore the building room by room.

To start at the beginning, the main entrance opens into a full-height area with a new glulam staircase and platform lift tucked behind. The Great Hall, now a kitchen and dining space, is located to the right, with three bedrooms and bathrooms to the left. On the first floor, a main living space leads off into two bedrooms with bathrooms and the chapel gallery. The chapel has an entrance at the front of the property, whilst the community room and flat have separate entrances to the rear.

The Great Hall is an astonishing three-storey space topped by a cantilevered hammer-beamed roof. It’s lofty but doesn’t feel cavernous. New bespoke solid and veneer oak panelling lines the far end of the room at ground level, delineating the kitchen area and breaking up the elevation. It also quietly corrects the out-of-true walls and hides insulation and wiring. The kitchen units and island, also oak and oak veneer with polished concrete tops, were designed by the architects and constructed by The Landmark Trust’s in-house team. They thoughtfully cater for wheelchair users; surfaces pull out at a lower level, there is knee space under the sink and plenty of room for manoeuvring. These modern additions sit comfortably within the historic space, providing a softness and domesticity without competing or contrasting.

A craggy parapet offers an unexpected view of the ensemble at the top of the staircase. Cowper Griffith retained a 17th century wall between the entrance area and Great Hall up to shoulder height on the first floor, to allow connections across levels. Peering over, you can imagine playful interactions between guests – kids pretending to fire arrows over the ‘battlement’ or adults signalling down for a cuppa.

This viewpoint also affords a closer look across the cantilevered roof and spere truss. Repairs have been made, but the beams retain their crooked, jaunty charm. Carving peters out towards the southwest end of the space where the spere truss is carved on only one side. Stanford explains that decoration used to be reserved for the ‘high’ end of a room, not the ‘service’ end. Cowper Griffith has elaborated on this hierarchy of details and materials – a tactical move to keep within the project’s tight budget. For example, oak has been used in the Great Hall (a primary space) but soft wood was deemed appropriate for a slatted screen and partition muntins in the entrance area (a secondary space).

Walking into the living area, it is not obvious that the room is the project’s biggest technical achievement. Only when you trace its edges and see that the floorboards are consistently a centimetre from the walls, do you realise that you’re floating. By the 21st century the historic two-storey Solar Block had become a single volume. Cowper Griffith wanted to reintroduce a floor and separate the space into a living room above and bedrooms below. However, to minimise the weight applied to the historic masonry, the floor had to be suspended. It only connects to the walls in four places, despite containing all the services. The result is masterful and modest.

Less demure is the painted chamber. In 2021, floor to ceiling grotesque-style wall paintings were discovered in a first floor bedroom. They had been boarded over and hidden, and were remarkably intact. The c.1560 paintings are believed to be unique and have been delightfully described by a conservator as ‘the Tutankhamun of Yorkshire’.

Griffin-like creatures curl into vertical patterns around Tudor roses, ornaments and winged men across red, white and black panels which repeat throughout the room. There aren’t any signs, protective glass or alarms – just a small timber lip at floor level and an instructions sheet at the end of the bed. It’s breathtaking, overwhelming and a bit unsettling. It feels like the design could swallow you up or animate at any moment. I wonder how soundly I’d sleep with all those little painted eyes watching me.

In the background, Cowper Griffith has skilfully integrated climate regulation measures. The building management system pumps preconditioned air into the chamber, which is extracted through a small grill on the southwest wall. A new window with solar glazing and an external wooden louvre filters the light and reduces solar glare.

Meaningful efforts address the building’s environmental impact, despite the limitations of Grade I listing. A ground source heat pump, which required six 150m boreholes and a new external plant room, provides hot water and heating. Secondary glazing, insulation and underfloor heating have been installed and photovoltaic panels line a south-facing roof pitch. Reclaimed fabric, such as tiles, timber and slate, has been repurposed and new materials sourced locally.

It’s certainly an inward-looking property, with internal vistas replacing views of a once-expansive landscape. However, The Landmark Trust has commendably connected the building with its current surroundings through the offer of a community room, on site internships and outreach programmes. 

Calverley Old Hall does not flow seamlessly – nor should it. It’s a warren of surprises, difference and exploration which embraces the historic character. Yet significantly, the large living room and Great Hall anchor the scheme, providing open, communal spaces for gathering and spectacle, and all-importantly aiding navigation.

IN NUMBERS:

Total project cost £5.1m
Predicted renewable energy generation 1021kWh/yr 
PV panels 7
Objects of archaeological interest 380