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FeaturesYou are in: Suffolk > People > Features > West Front redevelopment  West Front redevelopmentOnce dubbed Britain's most luxurious council houses, the West Front at Bury St.Edmunds cathedral is being redeveloped into 5 private homes. The starting prices are likely to be around 拢0.5m. The West Front of St.Edmundsbury Catherdral has seven separate houses, five of which are being converted.听 The two on the end nearest the Abbey Gardens have always been occupied in recent years, but the others were deemed uninhabitable and fell into dereliction and were boarded-up.  West Front 2004 They were never council houses in the traditional sense.听 They were inherited by St.Edmundsbury Borough Council when it was set-up in 1974, but tenants were never chosen from the housing waiting list. The local authority still owns them and they're being redeveloped by a private company on leasehold.听  The West Front housing dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and was converted from the ruins of the Abbey creating the unique mixture of old and new.听 It's thought Abbot Samson from the Benedictine Abbey lived on the site before the dissolution. John Hogg is the specialist builder in charge of the project "The West Front is unique as an ecclesiastical remnant - there's nothing else like it.听 As you move southwards away from the cathedral the houses get younger, so it charts the history of building styles, materials and techniques as well.听 We're trying to respect the style of every house.听 You can see the original Norman arches which the houses were built around and we've still got some of the wallpaper from the 1840s which we can't remove, so we'll be covering it up behind tissue paper and preserving it."  Inside the West Front, 2006 The scaffolding and tarpaulins went up in 2004 to protect the buildings, but redevelopment work only began in September 2005.听 John Hogg says they've had to work out what they're dealing with "Some of the houses are built on one of the old Abbey churches and we've found some of the original vaulted church ceilings.听 Much of the ruins would have extended as far as what are now the tennis courts in the Abbey Gardens.听听 We can't be sure because so much was destroyed, but we think we've found evidence of a raised walkway that the Abbot would have used.听 It certainly got the archeologists excited when we found it behind some plaster!"  Some of the old brickwork Developer Walter Hawes says it's hard to be accurate, but the final house prices won't be cheap "They're hard to value because they are unique - you can't simply walk around the corner and find a similar development.听听 The cheaper ones will be 拢500,000 and the rest will follow.听 A lot of money is being spent on the renovations and that's reflected in the price.听 The market will do what the market will." It's a two year project but it's hoped the first property will be available to a buyer in the autumn 2006. last updated: 17/11/2008 at 15:19 Have Your Say
Unbelieveble! I would love to wander through this piece of history. Gothic, but impressive. You are in: Suffolk > People > Features > West Front redevelopment |
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