Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: The Chapel

Friday, 20 January 2012

The Chapel

It has been a long time coming, but we have finally finished renovating our 16th Century Chapel.

It was once the private Chapel for the owners of Pickwell Manor. It would be where they went to pray and to contemplate.

But it looked more like this when we found it, complete with graffiti going back to 1969.

First we put a concrete floor in and a ceiling/top floor. This is the downstairs..

and this is upstairs. One room up, one room down!

Then the tanking arrived which is acts as a sealed damp-proof membrane.

This again is the upstairs, now tanked.

We built a little baby extension on the side to house the boiler.

It is very sweet but tucked away.

The walls were then constructed on top of the tanking, this is the shell of the wet-room beginning.

and underfloor heating went in on the ground floor.

You can start to see the beginning of the wet-room area here on the left of the ground floor (under the stairs)

I asked my magic fairy for a white concrete (my favourite material) wash stand to house the sink in the teeny wet room, and, hey presto!

Thank you Steve our real-life Father Christmas!

Dubsy, our plasterer who always brings a smile.

He said to me 'whenever i come here you ask me to do the the strangest things, but somehow they seem to turn out looking quite good in the end'!

So, it is all finished, and it is now a bridal suite! The wet-room is just in the door to the left of the toaster.

The concrete stand in its rightful place.

the other half of the wet-room..complete with a shower for two..

Back into the main room now. We managed to source a camper-van sink and hob as it reminded me so much of being inside a camper.

The main door is absolutely gorgeous and made of oak to match the big door of the main house. The lights (Grace and Glory) hang over the table. (Thank you to Sarah Lambert who took the better-looking photos on this post!)

The stairs are hidden behind the cut-outs. Accessories by Grace and Glory

This is the upstairs. The top of the stairs is just visible on the left. We felt a full-length mirror was an essential for looking good on your wedding day!

The chest of drawers provide ample space for everything you might bring- even if you make a longer holiday out of your stay.

A small dressing table positioned by the window gives good light for making yourself look beautiful!

The wallpaper hidden behind the plaster depicts a romantic scene of two chickens laying an egg!

Thank you Deb Taylor at Home House Interiors for the fantastic headboard and footboard in a welsh blanket fabric. The design is St David's Cross and we love it!

the wonderful grey linen cushions tie everything together and make the bed complete.

Although it is small, it is very cosy and each space has been thought through to allow you to really make the most of this special and intimate time together.

The history around you also brings a depth to your experience in a way that only buildings as old as this can.

More photos will be available to see on our new website *coming soon*.

We really look forward to welcoming you to The Chapel x

2 comments:

Caroline Fricker22 January 2012 at 09:28
Fantastic, this whole look works so well, the attention to detail is the 'icing on the cake' not too much, but just enough.....you clever girl! xx
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Susannah23 January 2012 at 06:22
Thank you very much! It was hard work but really enjoyable...now onto the next project...the new office and Entrance Hall! x
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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".