The remarkable tale of a woman who relocated her centuries-old house brick by brick to the seaside is set to be depicted in a movie.
May Savidge embarked on a monumental DIY endeavor when her historic residence, Ware Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire, dating back to around 1450, faced the threat of demolition in 1969. Defying the council’s plans to clear the Elizabethan structure for a new roundabout, May, aged 58 at the time, opted to dismantle the 15th-century home and transport it to a new location she had secured in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.
Over the course of a year, May meticulously disassembled her home, carefully numbering each beam and window for reconstruction like a massive jigsaw puzzle. After 11 lorry trips to Norfolk, she began the arduous task of rebuilding the house on her newly acquired land, residing temporarily in a caravan with her dog.
Expressing her determination to preserve the historic house, May, with an engineering background, resolved not to see it razed to the ground, stating, “I’ve got nothing to do all day, so I might as well do the job myself.” Despite the challenges, including self-erecting scaffolding, she persisted, acknowledging the physical toll of her labor by remarking, “You certainly sleep at the end of the day.”
Upon her passing in 1993, May bequeathed the unfinished house to her niece, Christine Adams. Despite the incomplete state of the house, Ms. Adams dedicated 15 years to completing the restoration, inspired by her aunt’s legacy. The narrative of May Savidge’s extraordinary efforts has been chronicled in a book and is now being adapted into a film by director Gillies MacKinnon.
May Savidge’s historic abode, saved from demolition through her tenacity, was posthumously finalized by her devoted niece, Christine Adams.