2024 · Alfriston, East Sussex
The Old Rectory, Alfriston
- Client
- Private — owner
- Era
- 17th century
- Listing
- Grade II
- Category
- Lime plaster & render
- Completion
- 2024
- Disciplines
- Lime harl · Oak frame splicing · Sash window overhaul
Image · Hero · Project 701
A seventeenth-century timber-framed rectory returned to breathable construction after four decades under inappropriate cementitious render. Nine weeks on the south elevation; the north follows in 2026.
The Old Rectory had been encased in hard cement render since the 1980s — a common mid-century mistake that traps moisture against historic timber frames. By the time we were called in, the south elevation was exhibiting classic damp failure: peeling paint, softened sill timbers, and a characteristic damp bloom at first-floor level.
We removed the cement render by hand over three weeks, working in 1.5m panels to preserve the underlying timber structure. Where the oak frame had softened, we spliced in seasoned oak scarf joints following traditional peg-fixed methods — no steel, no resin. The new render is NHL 3.5 hot-mixed lime with a harl finish, applied in three coats over a course of six weeks to allow each coat to carbonate properly.
The client asked us to leave one 30cm square of the old cement in place behind a removable oak panel — a teaching exhibit for future owners to understand what the building had survived.
“Heritage work is not about going back. It is about making the building able to breathe again, so the next three hundred years can continue unremarkably.”
Credits
- Project lead
- James Ashford
- Lime work
- Martha Greene, Tom Holloway
- Oak frame splicing
- Ben Fairweather
- Heritage consultant
- Dr Eleanor Pelham
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