24 CONTEXT 187 : MARCH 2026 The 12th-century Old Leper Hospital in Taunton has been converted into four social housing units. managed and maintained by the Halswell Park Trust, which opened it to the public. In 2020 it was purchased from SBPT by Edward Strachan, the owner of Halswell House and Mill Wood, thus restoring it to its original ownership of the house in the surrounding parkland. It is open to the public on certain days each year. In other cases, the community aspect is central. In 2001 we acquired the Grade II listed, thatched 12th-century Old Leper Hospital (St Margaret’s Hospital) in Taunton. It had been in use as almshouses, and was now surrounded by social housing, derelict and fire damaged. We worked with the local community, including schools, to understand their thoughts on its future. Funding was secured, including grants such as landfill tax grant, and we managed the project. A sensitive scheme for its conversion into four social housing units has been implemented. Some novel design features were included, such as a coffin drop or long hatch, to enable furniture and mattresses to be passed up to the first floor. At Taunton, SBPT worked on Castle House, which uses part of the medieval curtain wall of Taunton Castle as one elevation. The house is Grade I listed and its fabric, other than the castle wall, dates from the 15th century, with 18th- and 19th-century additions and alterations. It has been owned by Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society since 1874, and more recently leased to Somerset Council for use as a museum workshop and temporary office space. However, the building suffered from structural issues and poor modern interventions, and was inaccessible to the public. The council invited SBPT to find a viable and worthy future for it. We raised over £1 million (from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, and several national and local funders) for a programme of complex structural repairs which we project-managed. Additional expensive works were found during the project and further funding had to be secured. Ultimately the implemented scheme saw the ground floor converted into a public discovery centre (the rest of the site is the Museum of Somerset) and a holiday let, creating both a continuing use and income from the building. Our only current project is No 9 Fore Street in Chard. This is part of a complex of buildings, all Grade I listed and at risk. Originally built as two town houses in the 16th century, they were later divided and altered into four commercial properties, with residential over. Currently there are seven owners with five commercial and eight residential elements. No 9 is in one commercial use, but last fully occupied over 25 years ago. Rain ingress has caused structural problems and the current conservation deficit is about £2.5 million. The house contains richly patterned plaster ceilings, and we have recently found a rare 17th-century wall painting on the first floor. To the rear is a first-floor room which is itself of two storeys and contains a barrel-vaulted, plaster-decorated ceiling. Known locally as the Court Room, it was built in 1630 and contains religious iconography on one tympanum which relates to justice, including the Judgement of Solomon and Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Keystone Historic Building Consultants have established that King Charles I stayed at the house twice during the Civil War on his way to and from Cornwall, once staying a week. We also know that in 1646 the owner was taken before the Committee for Compounding with The street frontage of No 9 Fore Street
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