ing over the opening had to be remodelled. Moulds were taken from the existing plasterwork so that an exact replica of the ornamental plaster could be run on site. On opening up the roof above the Tea room, it became apparent that part of the vaulted plasterwork had become detached from its laths, and needed to be reinforced. The roof void had been previously inaccessible and only when the slate roof covering had been removed could the Nicholson and Devey structures be appreciated fully. The early 19th century timber ribs forming the vault were decayed in places and needed to be strengthened. A mechanism of tiny wires was devised to suspend the ribs from the supporting structure, securing the vault from any possibility of collapse, and access was provided into the roof void with crawl boards for future maintenance. Also, a fibre optic projector was installed above the centre of the vault with eight fibre optic tails reaching to the eight points of the star of the vault and illuminating the dining table below with a disc of light. Throughout the Cottage, plain glazing was replaced with leaded light glazing. The size of the lead cames and pattern of the glazing varied in each room to suit the window, but in the Tea Room diamond lights were installed, breaking into trace1y at the top of the panels to blend with the original fanlight designs. Antique glass, complete with reams and seeds, had the effect of re-invigorating the room and as the sun sinks in the west over the river, the room comes alive with reflected light from the water shimmering on the walls. Old storage heaters, which obstructed the windows, were removed and the gothic window shutters carefully pieced back together again. The storage heaters had looked out of place in the Tea Room and yet the question of how to heat such a lofty room still needed to be answered. The Cottage was not served by gas and any solution therefore had to be electrically powered. After looking at all the options, we resolved to find a method of installing under-floor heating beneath the existing timber floor. It had the aesthetic appeal of being completely invisible, while providing a constant source of heat which would benefit the structure and could be topped up by the use of the open log fire. Before the under-floor heating could be installed the fine boarded floor had to be carefully lifted. Each board was numbered and photographed so that it could be re-laid easily. Then purpose-made metal saddles were laid across the timber joists Context 60 December 1998 The old woodshed has been converted into a simple rustic bathroom into which precast concrete lintels were dropped to form the necessary heat store. A sand, cement screed was laid on top in two layers with the heating cables sandwiched between and the original floorboards, showing the stiletto heel marks of former fashionable occupants, re-laid. It was important that the kitchen retained the character of the original fishing room with its geometric tiled floor and wooden workbenches, where fishermen used to sit to make up colourful flies for casting. A fitted kitchen in this case was completely out of the question and an ingenious solution had to be found to the problem of inserting 20th centu1y appliances, without spoiling the mood of the room. The existing wooden worktop was adapted by cutting out a section and forming a lid which when lifted revealed an induction hob. A belfast sink was also set into a new timber worktop Nicholson's 'The Architectural Dictionary' 1819. with a matching lifting lid folding back to form a draining board and an enormous American refrigerator was installed within a new gothic screen to provide an endless stock of fresh food. The services throughout the cottage had to be completely overhauled to bring them up to current standards and new electrics, plumbing, heating and hot water, drainage, security and fire alarm systems had to be threaded through the fabric of the existing building. Space was at a premium, and without extending the cottage further, creative ideas were needed for producing the level of accommodation that the hotel demanded. In order to provide the ground floor bedroom with an ensuite bathroom, the existing woodshed was converted into a simple rustic bathroom. Connected to the cottage via a short roof-lit corridor, the wood shed appears unchanged from the outside, but inside it houses a freestanding cast-iron tub and enjoys a river view. Its encaustic tiled floor is cool underfoot in the summer, but under-floor heating ensures that is warm in the winter. In contrast, the bathroom upstairs was converted from a bedroom, offering ample space for guests to relax, unwind and linger in comfort. The sanita1y appliances are treated as pieces of furniture with the wash basin set into an antique washstand and an enormous cast iron bath 25
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