Recognition for historic gardens
Commendation for complete restorationstor of site
The winners of this year’s Sussex Heritage Awards have been revealed, celebrating architecture, design, traditional building skills and craftsmanship.
The annual awards ceremony was due to take place in the summer but was delayed due to the pandemic.
Despite lockdown it received more than 70 award entries – and this week the winners have been revealed.
In West Sussex County Times area there was one award winner and three commendations.
Lower Barn and Fielder’s Cottage won an award in the mid-scale residential category for the replacement of a disused house and conversion of a nearby barn, which required a considerate approach to the repairs of the timber frame and existing stone walling. Submitted by Valley Builders and architects, Savills (UK) Limited the judging team particularly noted the ‘quality of design in the execution of the barn in its setting’.
Highly commended were two residential projects: Amberley Place, a Grade II listed 18th century house (submitted by Robin Nugent Architects, Horsham); and Candytuft, a Grade II listed house with an early 16thcentury hall (submitted by Folkes Architects, Storrington). The historically important Grade I registered gardens, Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, also achieved a commendation following the complete restoration of the site following a decade of neglect.
Another winner was Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead for the restoration of the 60-foot peach house in the historic garden, which is part of the award
winning hotel and restaurant. The peach house was in serious disrepair with the judging team stating: “The beautiful peach house has been meticulously restored with understated simplicity and functionality. They demonstrate a practice of horticultural heritage that is now rare and highly skilled.”
Chairman of the Sussex Heritage Trust Simon Knight said: “This good news story demonstrates the importance of excellent architecture and design, traditional building skills and craftmanship and arguably without these the heritage we have in Sussex would be all the poorer.”
In Mid Sussex the Burgess Hill Library ( submitted by NewRiver REIT, London) won an award in the public and community category for the new library, which is part of the £60million town centre regeneration plans.
The judging team commented that the project was ‘well thought out and an excellent effort, as a solution that will regenerate an entire retail area of Burgess Hill and one that should be copied in town centres’.
The landscape and gardens category saw two winners of heritage importance including the Historic Stew Ponds Project at Arundel Castle (head gardener: Martin Duncan), probably of medieval origin, are part of a two-year project to showcase the biodiversity of the natural area into tranquil water gardens.
Out of 24 awards 15 were presented to West Sussex projects.
In the Chichester area there were nine winners, including West Dean roof restoration, St Mary’s the Virgin Church in Apuldram near Chichester and The Grange in Slindon.
Felpham Community College was highly commended by the Sussex Heritage Trust judges for the new three-storey building offering an extension to the existing science accommodation.
The architect David Seaman of DLS:ARCH based in Chichester designed an independent ‘L’ shaped block with the judges saying it was ‘ a quality building achieved within tight budget constraints, creating a cool, calm atmosphere for learning which was evidently much appreciated by the students”.
The college said the new building had ‘exceeded all our expectations’.
In the public and community category there were two award winners: Aldingbourne Country Centre in Norton, described by the judges as ‘ brilliantly conceived and executed for people with special needs’ (submitted by Chichester based HNW Architects); and West Dean College Roof Restoration (submitted by West Dean College of Art and Conservation with architects, Chichester based Jane JonesWarner Associates and Clarke Roofing Southern Limited, Eastbourne), described by the judges as ‘a superb restoration of an historic building using
appropriate traditional materials’.
The restoration of the 130-year-old roof at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation was a complex project which required a temporary roof with an independent scaffold. The architect was Jane JonesWarner Associates and contractors: Clarke Roofing Southern Limited.
St Mary’s the Virgin Church in Apuldram received an award in the Ecclesiastical category for a new singlestorey annex for the 12thcentury Grade I listed building.
There were two Building Crafts Awards for Chichester based craftsmen: Callum Jackson from Berry Stonework for stonework to Old Goodwood Estate Cottages; and Liam O’Neill from Lion Roofing for work to Compton House in Chichester.
There were also four Chichester winning projects in the residential category: The Grange in Slindon, a Grade II listed village house (submitted by Victoria Holland Architecture, Burpham and RW Armstrong, Chichester); Parsonage Farm in Kirdford, the restoration of a listed Sussex barn dating back to the 18th-century (submitted by Nicholls Countryside Construction, Kirdford); the conversion and internal alterations to a Grade II Mill on the outskirts of Chichester (submitted by architects Jane-Jones Warner Associates, Chichester); and architects fiftypointeight followed success from 2019 with an award for St John’s Street in Chichester, described by the judges as “a tiny extension with huge impact”.
Worthing based architects ECE Architecture achieved an Award for the Lady Bee Enterprise Centre in Southwick. The centre saw the complete redevelopment of a reclaimed parcel of land to provide small business units for local companies to rent. Submitted with Pilbeam Construction, Brighton, the judging team commented on this flagship project “impressive design and use of materials to create some firstclass business units. Rare to see design flair expressed in what is essentially an industrial building”.
To watch the Sussex Heritage Trust Awards ceremony visit - www. sussexheritagetrust.org.uk
Arguably without these the heritage we have in Sussex would be all the poorer. SIMON KNIGHT Chairman, Sussex Heritage Trust