Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Llewelyn-Bowen and wife Jackie with renovation builders outside
their new Cotswolds home - Roberts House, Siddington near Cirencester

In April 2007 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen moved his family from their London home to the Cotswolds village of Siddington, 2 miles from Cirencester.

Laurence Llewelyn Bowen established himself as one of the most well-known designers on the BBC.

After graduating with a Fine Art degree from the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1986, Laurence joined a company specialising in industrial rubber flooring. Soon, he was commissioned to undertake work at Buckingham Palace.

His design skills were honed further when in 1989 he worked on the prestigious Paris Virgin Megastore project.

Not content with this rapid rise to prominence, Laurence set up his own design consultancy in 1989, the year he married Jackie. Commissions have included The Opera Terrace, Covent Garden, and the Sous Sol at the Oriel, Sloane Square.

Laurence's BBC debut was on the first episode of Changing Rooms in 1996 on BBC Two. His vibrant personality struck a chord with viewers, which contributed to the series attracting a loyal audience.

The Cotswolds Village of Siddington near Cirencester

The Cotswold captal town of Cirencester is split into five main areas: The town centre, the suburbs of Chesterton, Stratton (originally villages outside the town), Watermoor and the Beeches Estate (a 1950s housing development). The village of Siddington to the south-west of the town is now almost connected to Watermoor. The village has one pub and a shop and is three miles from Kemble Railway Station.

A local landmark of Siddington is the Round House. It is a castellated structure and is reputed to have been a windmill or possibly a folly. Probably late C18. Castellated tower with battered rubble stone walls, 2 plat bands and overhanging castellated parapet. Cambered head stone openings scattered on each of 3 levels. Semi-derelict at a survey in July 1985. It is now been converted to a home.

The Thames Head Stone at the village of nearby Coates was a statue of Neptune which sat in a meadow to mark the source of the Thames. It was put there by the Thames Water Authority in 1958 and removed fifteen years later because of vandalism. Nowadays there is nothing to see, not even in the Thames Head pub nearby.

Roberts House

Roberts House is a Grade II listed large detached house. At the beginning of 2007 the house was put on the market with a guide price of £1.3m. Parts of the house are believed to date back to the 16th-century and occupied by John Roberts one of the founders of Quakerism.

See further information about - Laurence Llewelyn Bowen's Home.

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