When two became one

Sapperton and Oakridge are two villages in the Cotswolds famous for their connection with the Arts & Crafts Movement in the early 1900s. This is when many of the craftsmen moved to these remote and leafy areas, drawn by the total silence of the countryside.
Now 100 years later John and Sandra Walker live in The Thatched House at nearby Tunley, which was once home to Alfred Powell, a leading member of the Cotswold Arts & Crafts moment.
He moved to the area in the late 1890s and worked alongside Detmar Blow for both the National Trust and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Although he began his career as an architect he turned to ceramics when he was 40 and thanks to him many other like-minded people were drawn to the Sapperton area.
Alfred married Louise Lessore whose father was an artist and then went on to create a home for them in The Thatched House in 1902. The house actually began as two small cottages and Powell linked them by building an entrance hall in which stands a magnificent winding newel staircase. “It’s of solid oak and elm which Powell made himself,” says John.
He made many other Arts & Crafts features in the house including the oak doors and cupboards and heavy oak lintels above the fireplaces.
Perhaps most striking is the main sitting room above which is a bedroom loft to which a handmade oak ladder leads – this was put in by Powell. The fireplace (now housing a woodburning stove put in by the Walkers) was also made by him complete with heavy oak lintel and slate hearth. There is also vertical elm panelling and wonderful oak beams in the double height ceiling as well as leaded lights and window seats.
Fellow Arts & Crafts disciples contributed too – there are wrought iron latches, hinges and highly decorative door handles from the blacksmith Alfred Bucknell and in the sitting room a decorative plasterwork freeze of acorns and oak leaves thought to be the work of Ernest Gimson.
However when the Walkers and their toddler son David arrived 23 years ago the house had not yet received its Grade Two listing and in fact needed quite a lot of repair work.
“We’d been living in Birmingham where I was a chartered accountant and had a weekend cottage at Caudle Green near to Sapperton.” says John. “But when David was born we had to decide whether to sell the cottage and keep the house or vice versa.”
In the end they decided to sell both the house and the cottage and look for somewhere bigger in this part of the Cotswolds.
“We looked round for more than a year but found this place by accident. It was too small for our requirements – or so the estate agents thought – which is why no-one had told us about it. I saw it myself and while it was small I could see we could probably extend it.”
It was in rather poor condition having been kept as a weekend retreat for a London family.
One of the two original cottages was older than the other – it dated back to the 1700s and has now become the Walkers’ dining room. It has a flagstoned floor, exposed beams and stone walls and a tall mullioned window as well as a staircase leading to a little gallery, although this is relatively recent having been put in about 40 years ago.
The other cottage incorporates the two sitting rooms and here there is very much evidence of the Arts & Crafts.
As for the hallway and kitchen these were created by the extra building work Powell did to link the two cottages.
“After we bought The Thatched House we gutted it but kept the original features,” says John. “We had to rewire and replumb. As there were only two bedrooms and one bathroom we had an extension built on of reclaimed slate tiles and Cotswold stone. This now houses the utility room and the study downstairs with a third bedroom and en suite bathroom upstairs.”
The couple also refurbished the original bathroom and refitted the kitchen with oak units.
The house still is thatched with long wheatstraw and was last done 20 years ago.
“We found it had been thatched over again and again so the layers were 30 inches thick,” says John. “But Andy Bowman had to remove 18 inches before he he could begin to redo it completely. We redid the ridges six years ago and if maintained properly these should last up to 30 years. Of course the great advantage about thatch is it’s cool in summer and warm in winter.”
Then about eight years ago the Walkers added a swimming pool to their stunning garden, which has largely been created by Sandra. She has placed tubs of flowers and laid pebble paths everywhere and was thrilled to find when moving in a wonderful weeping lime tree with a very heavy perfume planted during the 1940s.
When it came to furnishing the house the couple were careful to choose items appropriate to its age. John had a bookcase specially made in the Arts & crafts style – “relatively plain with an oak leaf in the corners,” he says. “It was done by Colin Clarke, a Tetbury craftsman.”
In the Dining Room there is a mahogany table with chairs from the early 20th century re-upholstered in fabric to match the huge curtains brought from their previous home. Of the same age as the chairs is a Turkish carpet bought in a Cheltenham antique shop, a 1920s sideboard and an antique Victorian chandelier of Bohemian crystal.
“But of course we have some of Powell’s ceramics too,” smiles John.
“We have a vase, a bowl and three plates by him and I like to think he can see them in this beautiful home he made for Louise, his children and himself.”

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