The Bell Charlbury

SOLID are proud to have been appointed as Structural Engineers on another fantastic Daylesford Project – The Bell in Charlbury. Situated in the centre of the quintessential Cotswold town the building dates back to the 17th Century and has always been used as an inn. The pub was acquired by Daylesford Organic and has been recently renovated and redecorated in line with the company’s branding and now reopen, joins the ‘Daylesford Stays’ collection.

Daylesford Stays

The Daylesford Stays Collection is a group of gastro pubs and accommodation across the Cotswolds providing luxurious getaways. The Bell joins The Fox at Oddington, another SOLID project, which made it into The Times’ Top 100 Places to Stay in Britain and scooped the ‘Central England Hotel of the Year’ Award. The Wild Rabbit in Kingham, The Three Horseshoes in the Windrush Valley and ‘The Cottages’, a selection of traditional stone cottages all located within a two-mile radius of the Daylesford Organic Farm, complete the Daylesford Stays Collection.

Structural Engineering Challenges

The Bell in Charlbury offers twelve beautifully decorated bedrooms, cosy snugs, a dining room in ‘The Barn’ and a stunning English country garden for dining outdoors during the Summer months. The majority of the project consisted of refurbishing the existing pub and the ancillary accommodation, with the focus being on bringing the interior décor up to the elegant Daylesford standard. The structural works for our team involved strengthening a number of original timber floors to support the large cast iron bathtubs that were installed in the completely remodelled bathrooms. The challenge here being that there was only a small amount of structural depth offered by the existing floor structure. Due to the already limited headroom, there was little scope to go deeper.

Like all Daylesford Stays locations, The Bell’s interior is the perfect mix of locally sourced materials including hand-blocked wallpaper made in Oxfordshire and four poster beds crafted from wood straight from the Daylesford Estate. The SOLID team are looking forward to paying the Bell a visit soon and are delighted to have been part of yet another beautiful Daylesford Stays refurbishment.

If you are planning your own renovation in the coming months, why not contact the SOLID team to discover our approach to the structural challenges you may face along the way.