Focus Consultants has played a key role in project managing a £4.7 million scheme to redevelop an historic site based around a Grade I listed manor house and 16th Century great barn.
Headstone Manor & Museum in Harrow dates back to 825AD and was once owned by Henry VIII.
Now, following a four-year redevelopment programme, which was project managed by Focus, the buildings and grounds have been transformed into a museum, with a dedicated learning centre.
Steven Fletcher, partner at Nottingham-based Focus Consultants, said: “Focus is delighted to have been able to work on such an interesting and historic project. As a company, Focus has wide experience of conservation, restoration, redevelopment and other projects within the heritage sector.
“The project team worked together with archaeologists to ensure historic structures and finds were preserved throughout the development. Excavations uncovered Medieval walls and foundations, but also remains which had previously been thought to be outbuildings which were in fact a more substantial structure.”
The site received a £3.6 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, alongside £1 million from Harrow Council and £270,000 from the John Lyon’s Charity.
The Medieval Heart of our Regeneration project aimed to bring to life the fascinating history of the moated manor and its people, Harrow and its communities. It included the restoration of the granary, barn, manor house and gardens. A new visitor centre, boasting a beautiful timber frame which references the structure of the historic barns at Headstone, has also been built.
Harrow Council is responsible for Headstone Manor Museum, along with other cultural assets in the London Borough of Harrow.
Harrow Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community, Culture & Resident Engagement, Cllr Sue Anderson said: “The transformation is incredible – you really feel the team has brought the manor back to life after more than a thousand years. It’s been a huge amount of hard work from everyone involved that has paid off wonderfully.”
Focus Consultants, which also has offices in Leicester, London and Boston in Lincolnshire, specialises in delivering high quality heritage projects across the UK.
The company has expertise in a wide range of fields, including project management, funding and economic development, funding applications, economic impact appraisals, business plans, and research and evaluation. Since 1994 Focus has also secured for clients more than £953 million of grants for projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.
In addition, Focus offers a range of services to the property and construction industry, including building surveying, project management and sustainable development support.
