Channel 4 chaos unfolds as George Clarke’s renovation derailed by ancient roman settlement

George Clarke’s Remarkable Renovations was thrown into chaos after an ambitious rebuild was discovered to be sitting on an ancient Roman settlement. Television presenter and architect George Clarke joined Kirsti, an illustrator and interior designer, and army officer Tim, who snapped up an old shop for £360,000 in Monmouth, Wales. But it was soon learned that it was listed in a conservation area and archaeologists had to be brought in to monitor the entire project.

“We could be looking for something from Roman and medieval times to something more recent,” the expert said as she monitored the crew digging trenches in the back garden. The building, constructed in 1725, was Grade II listed by Cadw in 2005 for its “special architectural interest as one of an early 18th century pair of houses of definite character which is part of the important group of historic buildings near St. Mary’s Church”.

The Archaeologists did make an initial discovery, however it turned out not to be of any historical significance, allowing them to continue with their renovations.  

The property began life as a family home until, in the 1870s, William Card bought it as a place to run his tax business, while after World War I it became a high-end women’s clothing shop.

Over the last few decades it’s had a number of functions, including a book shop, a wine bar and finally the office for an accountancy firm. When the company moved away from the High Street to new premises, the building was empty for two years before Kirsti and Tim bought it.

Tim says: “This house is 300-years-old so we’re just custodians for a while, it will never be finished – we’ve done this to it, someone else will do something else in years to come. 

“It was a really big risk, we did upstairs before we had any permission to do anything downstairs and if that had all fallen through then we’d have ended up with a flat above the shop.”

18 months after beginning the project George returned for the grand reveal.

George gushed: “Against a ton of odds, they have given this historic shop a new life when it needed it, both downstairs in the extension and upstairs where they have sensitively and uniquely renovated the rooms to accommodate their family of six.

“What they have achieved here is a renovation spectacle. Because of its listed status and conservation area it was a difficult road to navigate but, my word, it’s been worth it; bold, eccentric and staggeringly unique and that’s what I love about it.”