Architect & interior designer in Bishop's Castle
Bishop’s Castle is a hill town of steep streets, timber frames and independent minds in the south-west Shropshire hills. I work with owners of its historic houses and the farmhouses of the Clun and Kemp valleys.
The houses of Bishop's Castle
The town climbs from Church Street to the castle site, carrying an unusually dense run of listed buildings — the leaning House on Crutches among them — with Georgian refronting over much older fabric. Around it, the Shropshire Hills bring stone farmhouses, chapels and smallholdings, and the constraints of a nationally designated landscape.
How these houses respond in Bishop's Castle
Levels are the defining condition here: houses stepping down their plots, with half-landings, cellars and roof spaces that a flat-plan approach never exploits. Thinking in section rather than in footprint is what makes these buildings work, and it is usually cheaper than building on a slope.
Architecture and interiors, decided together
The wall you move decides the joinery that fits against it; the window you add decides the colour that works beneath it. Because I design both, decisions in Bishop's Castle houses get made once — plan, light, kitchen, storage, materials and lighting resolved as a single scheme rather than handed between an architect and a decorator six months apart.
What I can help with
Concept & FeasibilityDetails
£1,950 — measured survey, two or three layout options, one CGI visual and indicative cost bands. Credited against the full design fee if appointed. Read more →
ArchitectureDetails
Remodelling, extensions where justified, planning and technical design. Read more →
Architecture & Interior Design CombinedDetails
Replanning, architecture and interiors as one appointment — 5–7.5% of construction cost, agreed to the scale and complexity of the project. Read more →
Everything starts the same way: a free phone conversation about the house, after which I recommend the appropriate next step rather than the largest one. See how a project unfolds →
Do you work this far south-west in Shropshire?
Yes — Bishop’s Castle, Clun and the surrounding hill country are within working range, and these are among the most rewarding buildings in the county.
Our house is on a steep plot. Does that rule out extending?
It makes extending expensive, which is a good reason to test what the existing section can give you first — attics, half-levels and cellars often hold the answer.
Does the AONB designation restrict what we can do?
It shapes external change, particularly rooflines and materials. Schemes that read as quiet and considered fare best, and that is how they are designed here.
Other areas we serve near Bishop's Castle
Church Stretton · Ludlow · Montgomery · Shrewsbury — or see all of Shropshire.
Worth reading before you start
Do you actually need an extension?
Where to spend and where to save
Renovating a period home without losing it
Start with the whole property.
My first conversation with you is free. You do not need a finished brief — an outline of the property and what is not working is enough.
Start Your Project