In an astonishing feat of determination, a woman once saved her historic 15th-century home from council bulldozers by taking it apart and moving it 100 miles away, piece by piece.
The Ultimate DIY Challenge
In 1969, May Savidge faced the devastating prospect of losing her beloved home, Ware Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire. The local council planned to demolish the Elizabethan property, built around 1450, to make way for a new roundabout. Bulldozers even reached her front gate. But the then 58-year-old, with a background in engineering, refused to surrender her home to destruction.
Instead, she embarked on what would become the ultimate do-it-yourself project. May purchased a plot of land in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, and set about painstakingly dismantling Ware Hall herself. She numbered every beam and window frame, turning the centuries-old structure into a giant, labelled jigsaw puzzle.
A Monumental Move and Rebuild
The dismantling process took a full year. Subsequently, she needed 11 lorry trips to transport the entire house to its new coastal location. Living in an old caravan with her dog, May then began the colossal task of reconstruction. She erected her own scaffolding and worked through all weathers, famously telling a TV crew, “You certainly sleep at the end of the day.”
Her spirit captured the public's imagination. Strangers sent money to support her endeavour, with one admirer writing, 'Yours is the spirit that once made Britain great.' May, a retired draughtswoman, eventually moved into the still-unfinished house around the age of 67.
A Lasting Legacy
May Savidge passed away in 1993, leaving the house to her niece, Christine Adams. The project was not yet complete, but Ms Adams dedicated the next 15 years to finishing her aunt's life's work, a task she continues to refine today.
This remarkable story of perseverance is now being adapted for the big screen. Director Gillies MacKinnon is creating a film based on the book written by Christine Adams, ensuring that May Savidge's extraordinary brick-by-brick rescue mission will inspire audiences for generations to come.
