September 3, 2026 / By rachel
On the final evening of 1999, Ford Abbey had become part construction site and part contingency bunker, prepared for the moment when the clocks reached midnight and, according to some of the more alarming predictions, computer systems around the world might simply stop working.
At the client’s request, every current drawing was printed, electronic files were backed up onto CDs and generators were brought to site because they could still be relied upon if other systems failed. People even remained onsite at midnight for security, ready to respond if the Millennium Bug caused the anticipated chaos.
Midnight arrived, the year changed and, with an almost comic lack of drama, absolutely nothing happened.
Older Problems Than the Millennium Bug
The technology may have survived intact, but restoring historic buildings was already presenting plenty of more tangible challenges. RRA had been appointed in 1998 to transform Ford Abbey, a moated Herefordshire farmstead first documented in the late 1120s as a chapelry of Leominster Priory and later held by Reading Abbey, into a boutique hotel.
At its heart was an early 16th-century Grade II listed farmhouse, accompanied by a collection of curtilage listed barns that had become redundant, disused and, in places, derelict. The programme had to accommodate archaeological investigation and the careful conservation of historic fabric before the buildings could be adapted for their new use.
The countryside then contributed another complication when the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak restricted rural movement, delaying a project that already required considerable patience, coordination and sensitivity.
Bringing New Life to the Farmstead
RRA secured planning and listed building consent, prepared the conservation specification and administered the construction contract through to completion. Traditional repair methods were combined with distinctly contemporary additions, including freestanding curved shower room pods within the guest bedrooms, which provided modern facilities without interfering unnecessarily with the historic structure.
A new barn-form building was created for the indoor pool and leisure facilities, while the landscape and external works helped reconnect the farmhouse, barns, courtyards and moat as one coherent destination.
The project also made use of video conferencing and onsite video to communicate progress, which felt considerably more adventurous at the turn of the millennium than it does now.
An Award-Winning New Chapter
Ford Abbey was completed in 2002 and opened as a boutique hotel, achieving a five-star AA guest accommodation rating. It was subsequently selected as England’s AA Guest Accommodation of the Year for 2003–04, providing rather more lasting excitement than the Millennium Bug had managed.
The property has since returned to private residential use, but its conservation, adaptation and memorable journey through the turn of the millennium remain an important part of RRA’s history.
See the complete Ford Abbey project case study.
This project is Week 26 of our #40Projects40Weeks series, celebrating 40 years of RRA Architects and the people, ideas and unexpected events that have shaped our work. If you have missed any of the previous posts, you can catch up on our News page.
About RRA Architects
Established in 1986, RRA Architects works across all sectors and provides architectural services from initial feasibility through to completion. We work nationally, with projects primarily across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Cotswolds, the West Midlands, the South West and South Wales.