Tower and Town, June 2021

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Conversion Of The Ropeworkds

Can you tell me a bit about the history of the Ropeworks?

The Ropeworks was originally in the grounds of Katharine House which fronts on to the Parade. Rope and tarpaulin manufacture date back here to at least 1865 which is on the datestone of the oldest building. After this finished the industrial buildings then had a number of uses (including the Louanne ‘Knicker Factory’) and were bought by us in 1997 to provide storage space for our furniture business.

What were the buildings like when you bought them?

They were watertight but otherwise quite dilapidated. We used them as storage for our furniture business and had two tenants, one of whom was a cabinet maker. We had no intention of changing the uses when we first bought them but decided many years later to move from Clatford into Marlborough having received planning permission to refurbish two of the buildings and build a new house for ourselves.

What are the buildings used for now?

Over the past four years we have converted the two main brick buildings into houses and almost finished building a new house for ourselves by the river. There is still an antiques workshop and showroom and the old cabinet makers has become Krumbz café by the river.

Before

After

What have been the biggest challenges of your project?

Obtaining planning permission and listed building consent was quite a complex process and dealing with services providers for electricity and gas was very time consuming.

What have you enjoyed most about the project?

Doing much of the work ourselves and directly employing tradesmen has meant that it has been a slow process but it has given us time to carefully consider all the details and source the right materials. For example we have used Portland stone copings on the garden walls and reused wrought iron gates as screens between the houses. We have always tried to do the right thing by the buildings using techniques and materials which respect their history but conform to modern standards. It is very gratifying to get such positive comments from people who come and see what we have done; many of them remember the buildings in their former dilapidated state.

Mile and Lesley Fernley