Temple Dinsley, Preston, Hertfordshire

Resolution to Grant

Grade II* 18th Century manor house, extended by Lutyens, goes to school and comes back home

“Can I just say, and I mean I’ve seen loads of these kinds of things over the years, this is without doubt the most comprehensive and sympathetic set of proposals I think I’ve ever seen. There is no doubt this is going to be a huge benefit to the community….this is an excellent proposal…”

Cllr Martin Prescott, North Herts Planning Control Committee, 30th January 2025

“This really is a great model. You should really be very very proud of the work. Any applicant or agent doing business in this area should take note of what was presented this evening and the engagement that’s been done on this.”

Cllr Elizabeth Dennis, Chair, North Herts Planning Control Committee, 30th January 2025

Temple Dinsley is a multi-phased designed landscape focussed on a c1714 country house, substantially remodelled and enlarged from 1908 by the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens alongside contemporary redevelopment of the formal gardens to the west and north, potentially with input from Gertrude Jekyll. This formal core is set within an early 18th Century landscape park that was further embellished from the mid-18th Century and as part of early 20th Century investment by the estate’s owners. From 1935, it became a private girls’ school, Princess Helena College, which closed in 2021.

Historic England 2023

A resolution to grant Full Planning and Listed Building Consent permissions was passed at the North Herts Planning Control Committee on 30th January, for this complex project which includes the restoration of the Main Building with its Lutyens’ wings and later annexes. A total of 45 dwellings are found in the listed buildings: 43 apartments in the Main Building & Teaching Block, 2 detached houses in Lutyens’ Tank House & Pump House. Replacing late 20th Century school buildings detrimental to the heritage setting, 5 new buildings provide 22 homes: Sadleir, Ithel, Templar, Violet and Edwin, with 2 more, Summer House and Harwood House in clearings in the Summerhouse Plantation. In total 4,794 sqm of buildings are converted, 3,586 sqm removed and replaced, with no net gain of floor area.

The Lutyens / Jekyll formal gardens and reinstated ornamental pond are conserved and shared by residents. The parkland is managed to promote biodiversity and amenity with grazing, community tennis courts, a new ground and pavilion for Preston Cricket Club and a number of new public permissive paths, providing access to these facilities along with other local community-requested routes, while also giving residents of the Dower House to the north, a much wanted new path to the village gate.

The new East Car Park provides for the apartments in the Main Building and Teaching Block, and keeps cars, bicycles, and stores well away from the listed buildings.
This walled parking garden is embedded in the landscape directly to the east of the Main Building, keeping cars, bicycles, and stores well away from the external spaces in front of and between the listed buildings. The perimeter wall, a mixture of sections of soft red brick and sections of hedge, aligns with the old building pattern, while the parking and internal structures follow two low levels in the landscape, reducing visibility.

Service: Architects with KPTA.

Location: Preston, Hertfordshire

Client: TheDoor UK Ltd

Cost: Undisclosed

Areas: 4,794m2 converted, 3,586mremoved and replaced

Dates: 2023- 

Contract:

To Live In   To Learn In   To Work In   To Play In