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Warksburn Old Church is a spectacular and stylish holiday rental, for up to six guests, close to Hadrians Wall in beautiful rural Northumberland. It is also one of the greenest buildings in the UK, and is the world’s first ever conversion of a former church into a Passivhaus ultra-energy-efficient home. It generates more energy than it consumes over the course of year.

Celebrating the opening of the property in Autumn 2024, we have a great deal for EV drivers: free charging for your car whilst you enjoy a stay in Net Zero Luxury at Warksburn Old Church. We have three 7kW chargers (and several Tesla Powerwalls fed by large solar arrays) on site, and we’re delighted to offer EV drivers completely free charging during all stays between 12 November 2024 and 11 April 2025. Just book a stay using the button below. We’ll sort the free charging when you arrive.

You can find out more about this special place by clicking the buttons below.

We’re delighted and honoured that Warksburn Old Church is now listed on the “Stay in a Passivhaus” page published by the International Passive House Association. We’re thrilled to be listed alongside some amazing properties spanning the globe from New Zealand to Sweden (and all points in between).

We’re now also listed on the Passivhaus Trust directory of UK Passivhaus properties offering guest stays. The “Looking for a Passivhaus Holiday?” page is a great initiative, enabling people considering making their own investment in an energy efficient home to experience living in a Passivhaus for themselves. Big hat tip to PHT for publishing this resource. As the Passivhaus Trust webpage puts it:

“Booking your next trip? Take a look at beautiful places and beautiful buildings to stay at in the UK. Relax in a certified Passivhaus, and experience first-hand the comfort provided by the leading international low energy building standard.”

Click here to book your stay in Net Zero Luxury at Warksburn Old Church.

The TV show requires a Discovery+ account to stream.  If you have an account, it will start automatically.  If not, just sign up for a free account.  You do not need to sign up for any premium package to watch the programme.

The link works for viewers in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Viewers in other territories may have to search on the Discovery platform for Series 2, Episode 3 of ‘Derelict Rescue’. The programme may not be available in all territories.

We’re thrilled and honoured that the Institution of Civil Engineers has published an article featuring Warksburn Old Church in its “What is Civil Engineering” series about important projects. The article is here.

It was a pleasure to be able to “bring history full circle” with our first-in-world project to convert a former church into a home which meets Passivhaus standards for airtightness, insulation and extreme energy efficiency. In 1875, the building was originally funded by Sir George Barclay Bruce, who served as President of the ICE in 1887 – 1889. He’s holding the architect’s sketch in this hand in the portrait below.

His Presidential Address on 8th November 1887 contains the world’s first recorded reference to the renewable generation and storage of electricity. In 2024, Sir George’s vision came to life in the very building he funded a century and a half earlier: the completed Warksburn Old Church Passivhaus now produces more energy than it consumes over the course of a year.

Electricity is to us now light, heat, and power. Our streets and beacons shine with it, it signs and speaks for us around the world, across the desert, and beneath the ocean. When we shall have learnt the way of storing up in a more efficient and financially successful manner, the unemployed forces of nature such as the winds and streams and tides, which can be so readily converted into electrical energy at trifling cost, then will it become a factor in the world’s life compared with which the present is as nothing.

George Barclay Bruce – Presidential Address to ICE 8 November 1887

For more information about the historical connection to Sir George Barclay Bruce, and his remarkable anticipation of renewable energy please see this page.

Thanks to everyone who visited Warksburn Old Church during the Passivhaus Trust Open Day event from 08 – 10 November. This followed on from the June Open Day event, when we were overwhelmed with interest, with people from all over the country coming to Wark to view the building works in progress during the our world-first project to convert a former church into a home meeting Passivhaus standards.

The autumn 2024 PHT Open Days event, from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th November 2024 enabled us to show visitors around stunning home that resulted from the rebuild, which is now open for bookings as a unique and spectacular holiday rental property, inviting guests to experience Passivhaus living in Net Zero Luxury for themselves.

Ahead of the Open Day, we had had some great media coverage, so visitors could take a look at the TV documentary which followed the conversion project, and read the Sunday Times article. All the project certifications were also completed before the event, so visitors could check out Warksburn Old Church on the Passivhaus Trust website and the International Passive House Association database.

Or you can simply browse the stylish accommodation the property offers, perhaps taking a 3D tour if you wish.

Yesterday afternoon was one of those glorious days of autumn sunshine. With the sun low in the afternoon sky, that’s perfect conditions for the stained glass windows at the west end of Warksburn Old Church. The close up face at the top of this post represents Lady Helen Norah, wife of Sir George Barclay Bruce, in one of the feature windows by the eminent Victorian stained glass masters, Charles Eamer Kempe. The image below represents their daughter, Anne Louisa.

We have had many enquiries about the upcoming Derelict Rescue TV documentary about Warksburn Old Church, which will be broadcast on Monday 21 October 2024 at 9pm on HGTV. Please feel free to share the information below on your socials.

We’re pleased to release this little ‘sneak preview’ video slideshow, showing some of the details of the interior design and artwork at Warksburn Old Church. The video embedded below is in .mov format. If you wish to open or download a copy in .m4v format, please click here to open the video in a new window.