Edith Stein Centre,
Aylesford
Priory
Project Introduction
- Client: The Order of Carmelites
- Value: £0.5m
- Completion: 2005
Project background
Aylesford Priory or 'The Friars' was originally founded in 1242,
and re-established in 1949 as a flourishing pilgrimage centre by
the Carmelites. Most of the surviving buildings at The Friars are
mediaeval, including the 13th century Pilgrims' Hall and the later
15th century Curia and Gatehouse buildings.
The North Barn is a 17th century, Grade II
Listed oak framed barn lying alongside the West Barn. An official
repair notice was put on the barn in 2003, and the primary aim of
the restoration was to retain as much of the historic fabric as
possible. This proved to be a challenging task for the structure,
as the building was very unstable. Furthermore, many of the
principal structural elements and their connections had decayed or
were distorted.
During the restoration process, the entire
structure was raised off the ground and kept in place by complex
scaffolding. On-site repair and replacement of the oak frames and
rebuilding of the new brick dwarf walls at the perimeter was
undertaken, together with re-cladding of the external
weatherboarding, and re-construction of the north aisle roof. The
opening ceremony took place in September 2005.
