The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse

The slabs selected are from the Ashbourne range from Bradstone and were sourced through their supplier in Littleport, The Fenland Hot Tub Centre. The plan below shows the pattern that will be laid. This pattern will need to be repeated several time for the area.

The work on this will start in earnest in about a weeks time. The ground is very low to the steps and the foundation of the house. The first job will be to build a small retaining wall that the membrane and ballast will go in, to raise the height by several inches. The slabs will sit on top of this, you won’t see the bricks. When the patio is finished several tons of soil will bring the garden to the level of the new patio, with a slight incline to drain the rain.

I can’t be sure, but having excavated this entire area with a digger when levelling the garden, I could find no remains of a previous patio being outside the French doors. However, many things disappear over the years! An example is – If you look carefully at the wall above the brick arches, you might just be able to make out a grey cement line running the length of the house. the rest of the house is lime mortar, so why? The answer is, this house had either a canopy or porch that ran the length of this wall and the mark is also visible on the gable ends. At some point in the history of the house this feature was removed, probably in the 1960s judging by the cement used. It is usual for features such as this to be removed, it is cheaper to demolish rather that renovate. Just look at inner cities these days and how many people take down their chimneys when having their roof renovated.