OAK Community Update - December 2025
On Sunday 14th December, OAK directors Judith Gardner, Kim Greig and Hattie Budd gave an update on the progress of the project and answered questions from the community. A transcript of the session follows below. If you have questions about the OAK project, the plans for the renovation of The Oxford Arms, our events programme, or our fundraising, get in touch at info@openarmskington.co.uk, or join us for our next Community Q & A in the early spring. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels for a date and a time.
Update from the directors
Building Update
OAK is working with Brownhill Hayward Brown, specialist heritage architects, to develop the plans for the renovation of the building. This is funded and supported by our Development Grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The renovated Oxford Arms will include a lift to the first floor (the viability of the lift installation has recently been confirmed by our structural engineer).
Our structural engineer has also confirmed that the building is much older than it looks; the architects and the structural engineer have suggested that the entombed timber frame of the lower two storeys of the main building date from the late 15th century, with the top floor having been added in the 17th century. This is very much older than our Grade II-listing information, which puts the date of construction in the 18th century! We will have a dendrochronology survey done in spring 2026, prior to any renovation work, to put a definite date on the initial construction of The Oxford.
We also had a preliminary bat roost survey done in August; this will need to be followed by a second observation survey in late spring 2026 when their hibernation period is over. We’ve never seen any bats at The Oxford, but it is a requirement to undertake this survey before Listed Building Consent will be granted for the commencement of work (this includes any renovation of the envelope, waterproofing, repairing windows, etc.).
Finally, we have also undertaken visualisation sessions with our architects to finalise the design of the interior. The next step, before the architects prepare the RIBA Stage 3 drawings, will be to obtain Listed Building Consent based on the revised plans. We have a visit from Herefordshire Council’s listed buildings department scheduled in the new year. We already have planning consent for the works we will undertake.
We are all very aware that The Oxford looks the same from the outside as it has for some time (indeed, on some measures it looks worse unfortunately). But we have been working hard behind the scenes and we are now much closer to completing the plans for the substantial renovation project that will bring The Oxford up to compliance in terms of electrical and fire safety and accessibility.
Timeline
According to our current schedule, we will submit a bid to the Heritage Fund in May for a Delivery Phase grant. The decision will be reached in September. If our bid is successful, there will be a couple while legal matters are finalised before we receive the “Permission to Start”. At that point, our architects can put work out to tender to get the renovation work underway. On this basis, if our bid is approved we hope that by next Christmas the renovations will have started.
Events Update
The Oxford Arms opened on 168 days in 2025 for events, groups, courses, support networks, and more.
As well as our weekend events, we host several midweek events and groups. We’re a part of the national Places of Welcome network, and every Wednesday morning The Oxford is open from 10am to 12.30pm as a Place of Welcome for anyone who wants to drop in for a chat and free teas and coffees. Places of Welcome is an important community resource, alleviating loneliness and offering an opportunity for people to socialise, have conversations and meet others at no cost. We regularly have 10-12 (or more) attendees at our weekly PoW sessions, and absolutely everyone is welcome to join.
The first Wednesday morning of each month is also Sunflower Social, a support group for people with hidden disabilities. The second Wednesday of the month we’re joined by Dementia Matters to offer support to people affected by dementia, especially carers. On the third Wednesday of the month, the local social prescriber visits to support anyone who needs medical advice or help but who can’t easily get to the surgery.
Every Tuesday, Kington Veterans Association meets in our barn, and the Kington Knit and Natter group meets at The Oxford some Saturday mornings.
We hosted chair yoga sessions throughout the summer; these have now moved to Markwick Hall for the winter because our barn floor is uneven and unsuitable for stretching on chairs!
We have some exciting events coming up in the new year, including another visit from our artist-in-residence Maya Rose Edwards, a day of poetry in association with Ledbury Poetry, we’ll be doing Let’s Dance! again in March, and much, much more. We’ll continue hosting events right up until we have to close the whole site for the start of renovation work.
Fundraising Update
We have been working closely with the Heritage Fund throughout 2025, and they are aware of the size and cost of the project and the scale of the work required. The cost of the renovations will exceed £1.5 million. If they accept our bid, the Heritage Fund will expect us to have raised significant funding from other funders as well, i.e. they will not fund 100% of the costs. We have exciting news on this front - it was announced last week that we are one of thirteen community projects across the county that will receive a capital grant from Herefordshire Council, from their Community Spaces Capital Fund. This is great news for OAK and for Kington! The funding is only for capital works and is a huge help towards securing the amount of ‘match’ funds required by Heritage Fund. We also have several applications at advanced stages with other funding bodies, which will hopefully bear fruit in 2026.
Although on a smaller scale, our absolutely most vital source of income is our 100 Club, which generates a crucial contribution towards our day-to-day running costs. It works as follows: 100 numbers can be allocated, for £10 a month you are given a number and every month all the allocated numbers are put into a £200 prize draw for one lucky winner! The remainder of the money raised goes towards the daily running costs of the Oxford - insurance, heat, lighting, water, etc.. So far we have 78 members, so there are still numbers left if you’d like to join: for £10 per month you’ll be helping the Oxford and you have a good chance of winning £200! Click on the button below to find out more.
Governance and Operations
The Development Phase funding from the Heritage Fund includes costs for several consultant positions that are requirements by the Fund: a project manager , an evaluation consultant, and a business planner consultant. These consultants are working alongside the OAK directors, secretary, admin and community engagement staff, and our volunteer team. At the moment, the directors are in a fairly constant stream of meetings as we work alongside our consultants, architects, surveyors and engineers to develop our plans and meet a tight schedule.
We have been actively seeking applicants to join our board of directors and we are delighted to announce that Jane Maggs will join the Board in the New Year. Already an established member of the volunteer team, and known locally as “the Marmalade Judge” for her work judging the annual Marches Marmalade Competition, Jane is also a landscape architect, she set up and ran her own award-winning preserves business (Wild & Fruitful) and is passionate about promoting sustainable and affordable good food. Watch this space for further details and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re interested to know more about director roles.
Audience Q & A
What will be the first thing you’ll do when you get the funding?
We will be able to give the architects the go-ahead to contract for the capital works. All work on the building will be overseen and contracted by the architects - given that this is public sector funding we are obliged to stick to the standard procedures and protocols. The architects are experienced specialists in heritage restoration projects and will be responsible for project management. Probably one of the first steps will be for the National Grid to connect us to the local substation to bring the electrical system up to phase 3 (the whole area of Kington around Duke Street still has the old phase 2 connection). The cost of this alone is high.
How can you submit your Delivery Phase application in May if the bat survey isn’t undertaken until May?
We’ve had our first bat survey; the planning officers and Heritage Fund know this, and they also know that bats can’t be surveyed while they’re hibernating over the winter! The Heritage Fund are happy to proceed on the basis that we undertake an observation survey at the earliest opportunity.
You mentioned that the building is much older than it looks; will you be restoring the building to how it looked at an earlier stage, or keep the outer shell as it is?
The entombed timber frame that we will have surveyed with dendrochronology is a crucial part of the structure but, on the advice of our structural engineer, the entombed beams must be supported and reinforced, so we can’t simply expose them. We hope to be able to reveal some of the timber frame (even if behind glass panels), possibly also one or more of the very ancient fireplaces, but the only elements that we plan to completely remove are the 20th century additions that have no historical value (such as the bar and panelling). Our plan for celebrating the heritage of The Oxford goes beyond the building; we’re keen to emphasise how important The Oxford has been to Kington for many centuries and to celebrate its role in the town, its history and its economy.
Is OAK planning to set up a charitable arm to the organisation?
At the moment, OAK is set up as a Community Interest Company - this is a legal form that ensures profit is fed back into the community enterprise, it does not go into any individuals’ pockets. If for some reason we decided to give up, we could not sell the building for profit, we could only give it to another community interest company or a charity that would continue its use as a community asset (i.e. the building and site is asset-locked). This means The Oxford will permanently remain a community asset run by a community organisation. Yes, we are considering establishing a charitable arm so as to anchor the project as deeply and sustainably as possible for perpetuity but this is something that is only at the exploratory stage at present.
Can you explain more about the Delivery Phase application to the Heritage Fund?
We have a development review meeting with the Heritage Fund in March, and the Heritage Fund will only let us apply in May if they are confident that we are ready. It’s a complex application with many supporting documents, including plans for the coming years, finances, business planning, architects’ drawings, and much more. If necessary, we can postpone our application until as late as November 2026 (but we are very keen to stick to the May submission timetable!).
Have there been any challenges?
Of course! There are many challenges but we continue to make good progress - even though it may not look like that on the outside. We completely understand some people’s frustration that The Oxford still isn’t open inside. We would love to open the doors but legally we cannot do so until the building is updated to meet fire safety and electrical regulations. The Oxford has become dilapidated over the last few decades, it’s been too expensive to repair properly so it has received many patch ups and temporary fixes. We are working to ensure that with the upcoming renovations Kington will have a building for community use that will be safe and secure, and accessible for decades to come. We want The Oxford to serve the community for many generations of future Kingtonians, and substantial renovations are essential if that’s to be the case.
We also recently started posting monthly community updates to share the progress of the long process to reopening. You’ll find them on our website, and the latest update is posted in our bay windows. If you have any additional questions or concerns about the project, get in touch via info@openarmskington.co.uk, come to our next Community Q & A, or simply come down while we’re open! We are happy to discuss what we’re doing with anyone who is interested, and always welcome new faces.
Being optimistic, how soon do you think it will be before The Oxford reopens?
If all goes according to our current plans and we have no unforeseen delays, we hope to open in late spring/early summer 2027, though this very much depends on whether the renovation programme proceeds according to plan! We’ll keep the community updated if we do meet any delays. It’s worth noting that Heritage Fund projects usually take 5 or more years; we received our Heritage Fund Development Grant in January 2025 so we’re still in the relatively early stages, but we’re working flat out to advance our plans as fast as we can and reopen The Oxford as soon as possible.