Heritage Statement for a new house in the setting of the Old Silk Mill.

A garden plot beside the Guild of Handicraft.

The site lies on the lane that leads from Sheep Street to the Old Silk Mill, an eighteenth century silk throwing mill that became the workshops of C.R. Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft when the Guild moved from London to Chipping Campden in 1902. With the adjoining Guild House it is among the most important Arts and Crafts sites in the country. High House, designed by Ashbee, stands across the road.

A new dwelling in that setting is a sensitive proposal. The council’s pre-application advice had accepted the principle, on the basis that the character of the site had already been much altered by a large care home built to the north in 2005, but it required a full heritage assessment with any application.

Maps, aerial photographs and a name that came later.

The assessment followed Historic England’s staged approach to setting. It drew on the 1845 tithe map and Ordnance Survey editions from 1885 to 1955, aerial photographs of 1929 and 1946, an archaeological evaluation of the adjoining former builder’s yard, and material held by the Chipping Campden History Society, including a sale notice of 1777 for the silk mill.

The map evidence dates Guild Cottage to between 1845 and 1883, some decades before the Guild arrived. The name suggests an association with the Guild, but the evidence for it is slight, and the boundary between the cottage and the mill was only removed in the early twentieth century. Establishing what the historic relationship between the two actually was, and was not, is the starting point for any judgement about setting.

Reusing what is there, and keeping it subservient.

The design, by M S Design, reuses the existing garage and extends from it, so that the amount of new building is less than a wholly new house would require. The form is vernacular: natural stone walls, a pitched roof and a narrow gable towards the lane, set back from Sheep Street behind existing planting.

Our assessment found no harm to the setting of any of the four listed buildings. The site is some forty metres from Guild House, only an oblique view along the approach lane changes, and there are no direct views from High House or Thatched Cottage. The character and appearance of the conservation area would be preserved.

Permission granted, with one request for glazing bars.

The conservation officer raised no objection, subject to glazing bars being added to the windows and a correction to the drawings, both of which were made. Historic England offered no comments. The town council objected on flood risk and scale.

The planning officer found the form and design characteristic and suitable for the site, found no harm to the character or appearance of the conservation area, and judged any effect on the setting of the Old Silk Mill to be limited and outweighed by the benefit of a new home. The solar panels on the retained garage roof and the air source heat pump were welcomed.

Planning permission (25/00296/FUL) was granted on 6 February 2026. The application was prepared with the planning consultants, Day Lewis Planning.