INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION

An old ropeworks in Bridport has been re-imagined with simple design and natural materials

While staying with friends in Dorset and perusing the small ads in the local paper over morning coffee, artist and designer Tony Heaton spotted an old ropeworks for sale further along the coast in Bridport. Soon afterwards, he stood in the dimly lit, long-abandoned 18th-century building. With the smell of damp hemp filling the air and little to be seen but the faint outline of a long, low line of windows cut into the rough limestone walls above a black bitumen floor, it was hardly a breathtaking vision.

However, Tony was familiar with designing large spaces and undaunted by taking on such a task. And with thoughts about moving from his home by the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath, his mind was quickly made up. “It took me ten minutes to decide to buy the

property,” he says. “The price was right, and I love industrial buildings.”

Bridport’s most famous product had once been rope. Hemp and flax grew well on Dorset limestone in the surrounding fields, and the demand from shipping on the nearby coast resulted in a prosperous industry. The long stone and brick building was originally designed for twisting and turning yarn into rope, but the simple exposed construction and honest materials caught Tony’s imagination. Outside, low windows on the ground floor are north facing with a small strip of garden: the original ropewalk. Used for making even longer lengths of rope, it runs along the length of the building and has since become home to a Dorset shepherd’s hut.

After removing fishing nets and old rope, plasterboard ceilings and endless fluorescent lights, stripping everything back to basics, Tony was ready to redesign the space: “I wanted to show the length of the building and expose the

“I love industrial buildings”

A strip of outdoor space is now home to a handsome shepherd’s hut

construction.” Removing a huge central section of the ground-floor ceiling enabled him to form a gallery above, with the addition of an elegant wooden balustrade and handrail surround. New roof lights were cut into the south side of the pitched roof above to allow sunlight to penetrate through to the gloomy ground floor, creating a light well. “The whole interior came to life,” Tony says.

Because there are no complete divisions across the long building from front to back, there are only two rooms – one upstairs and one downstairs. Instead, a series of separate spaces has been formed by cupboards or upright partitions. Tony has attempted to recycle at all times. The bricks for the kitchen’s freestanding dividing wall came from a heap in an abandoned garden, discovered on a walk with his dog, and wheelbarrowed downhill. Decorator’s cotton sheets hide a large storage area across the front end of the building by the stairs. “The perfect colour and the perfect price,” Tony says. An original black bitumen floor was finally varnished after eight coats of thick white specialist paint, and every wall, ceiling beam and wooden structure has likewise been painted white to unite the interior’s different textures.

Downstairs, the centre of the light and uncluttered ground floor forms the

living area. Further along, the salvaged bricks divide it from the kitchen and dining room. With a nod to contemporary conveniences, the recycled white Aga is placed against the end wall, warming the kitchen, and the bedroom and bathroom above. Hand-built wooden doors cover a large built-in cupboard, which hides the boiler and fridge-freezer, and a collection of handmade baskets found in local markets provides storage for fresh fruit and vegetables. With just an old scrubbed pine table, a couple of benches, a sideboard and a slab of Georgian slate as a worktop, plus a free-standing Belfast sink, this is what Tony calls his “21st-century kitchen”.

Upstairs, Tony’s bedroom area has a rolltop bath and clothes cupboard, slung from a pyramid frame and constructed from sawn English elm by long-time friend Richard La Trobe-bateman. “It has all been a labour of love,” says Tony, who now devotes his time to designing cards. “Walking down the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal has now been replaced by strolls along the River Brit to the sea.” FOR MORE INFORMATION Tony Heaton’s cards can be found at greetingsfromuk.com.

The bath was rescued from a garden where it was used as a planter

OPPOSITE A basket by Lois Walpole and a length of rope originally found in the property sits upon the round elm table by Richard La Trobe-bateman THIS PAGE Vintage baskets and pots are used as storage for vegetables. The old beams and walls were painted white to reflect the light

ABOVE RIGHT The wall bricks were moved downhill over many trips by wheelbarrow from a heap in an abandoned garden RIGHT A church pew and coffee table, made with sawn English

elm by Richard La Trobebateman, provide simple furnishings

THIS PAGE A well-loved scrubbed refectory table and bench

THIS PAGE A vintage black-and-white Welsh wool blanket covers the bed. The wardrobe was made by Tony’s friend, Richard La Trobe-bateman OPPOSITE The bathroom is open to the bedroom and has white tongue-and-groove walls to provide privacy