Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk — £3.9m Conservation of a 15th-Century Moated Manor

Oxburgh Hall is one of England's most evocative medieval manor houses, completed in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld and continuously inhabited by the same family ever since — now in the care of the National Trust. Built of warm red brick around a central courtyard and surrounded by a moat, the Hall's towering Tudor gatehouse is among the finest of its kind in England.

Following the collapse of an internal dormer in 2016, the National Trust commissioned an extensive programme of conservation works to address the urgent structural issues and carry out long-deferred repair across the building envelope. Messenger BCR were appointed as main contractor for a 96-week programme valued at £3.9 million, working to designs by Purcell architects.

The scope encompassed roof repairs, window conservation, chimney repairs, and major works to the iconic medieval gatehouse façade. To achieve access around the moated building, a complex engineered scaffold was constructed — one of the most technically challenging aspects of the project. All works were carried out to the exacting standards required for a Grade I listed building in National Trust ownership, with the project completed in June 2022.