Chillenden Forge is a Grade 2 Listed Building, situated in the Conservation Area of Chillenden Village. The building as described from the listing on Historic England is “a relatively rare and early surviving example of a forge or blacksmith’s workshop, built in around the C17 and extended in about the mid-C19, which retains a cobbled floor, furnace, chimney, wheel clamp, casement windows, timber-boarded doors and a cart entrance”.
The challenge for Chillenden Forge was that when purchased, it was found to be in a state of much needed repair (re roofing, structural pinning, re pointing). The overriding ambition was to fully repair the building and thereafter apply to change its use class from a business (Blacksmiths) in to a residential. To create a fully useable dwelling, we proposed the introduction of a sensitive additions to the rear of the building to create a new entrance, bathroom and utility area.
Working with Rebus Planning and the Heritage Engineer, the team worked methodically though a repair schedule and comprehensive design, looking carefully at all of the key details and junctions necessary to ensure the Forge remained dominant and the new addition subservient.
This methodology was successfully presented to Dover District Council’s Conservation Officer, who granted Planning and Listed Building Consent in 2024.
