The Great Wall of Pixham

Nick and Annie Lupton bought Pixham House in 2016, fully aware that the area was prone to flooding. It is in a beautiful location, but it is in the middle of the River Severn flood plain. The house already had a series of flood defences in place, and these have worked well in holding back the water, but their fear was, in the long term, that the house would start to suffer structurally. So, they took the bold decision to build a wall around the property. Since then, the wall has withstood three floods and has worked exceptionally well,  protecting the structure of the house, while making in the long term and makes their lives more manageable during a flood.

In Nick’s words, “It’s a complete game changer.” They went from holding back water at the exterior walls of the house to having a layer of dry land between the house and the wall.

Following a BBC news story filmed at Pixham House during the January 2024 floods, and the subsequent media interest in the flood defence wall, many people have expressed interest in what they did, and how they did it. They want to know what they need to consider if they were to build their own flood resistant wall themselves.

‘The Great Wall of Pixham’ ebook provides step-by-step guidance on what is needed to complete a significant project to protect your home, including:

• Where do you start
• Planning requirements
• Designing the wall
• Project management
• The building phase
• Lessons learnt.