An 18th century Priory and popular events venue in North Lincolnshire has been successfully restored to its former glory.

Britcon carried out two phases of work for the project, with the latter £320,000 contract recently reaching completion.

Hirst Priory, located on the Isle of Axholme, is a Grade II listed mansion house nestling in a secluded setting overlooking the Lincolnshire Golf Course, and boasting 14 acres of grounds. 

The once private residence became neglected before being acquired by Hunt Group in 2004.

During 2015 Britcon undertook the first £250,000 phase transforming the Grade II listed building into a prestige venue for weddings and corporate events with a capacity of 120 people. Externally, Britcon created extensive gravel and lawn areas including woodland settings to host marquee functions and outdoor ceremonies for up to 300 guests.

In this latest phase Britcon refurbished all seven bedrooms, restoring original period features and introducing en-suite facilities. The kitchen has been fully re-fitted, introducing more high-tech catering facilities for larger functions. A new 'Vaults' area has been transformed to provide a subterranean 40-seater dining area and bar. Hunt Group added a further investment of £30,000 on soft luxury interiors and other equipment.


Particular care was taken to restore and replicate the design and detail of the existing building. Britcon formed new internal structural openings for bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms. Reclaimed existing building panelled doors were painstakingly refurbished, and surrounded with bespoke mouldings matching existing architraves. Maintaining this approach, window shutters & sash windows, were renewed or carefully repaired.

Water damaged deep ornate coving details at the first floor were carefully restored or replaced using traditional methods and techniques that have remained unchanged for centuries.

The newly constructed en-suite bathrooms have period correct heritage style sanitary ware carefully blended with a modern contemporary style and high specification internal finish.

Andy Toyne at Britcon said: "Hirst Priory is of considerable heritage value to the Isle and is cherished for its beautiful period architecture. Whilst the renovation programme has been challenging we have successfully retained the property's wonderful period features whilst adding modern functionality that maintains a sense of its era."

Shaun Hunt, Chief Executive of Hunt Group, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the very high standard of work completed by Britcon. It is fantastic to see Hirst Priory restored to its former glory and modernised to such a high specification of finish; perfectly suiting the most discerning of clientele."

(CM/JG)