CAROL FULTON

Carol is an alumni of the Royal College of Art in London, with over twenty years’ experience photographing properties and interiors for architects and interior designers.

After graduating with a First Class degree in Photographic Studies, followed later by an MA in Photography, Carol spent ten years working as a photographer in London, creating images for the design and publishing sector from her Highbury studio. She set up Benchmark House Histories in 2010 whilst living in Kent and joined forces with Cathy and more recently Sara after relocating in 2014.

Carol oversees projects from initial concept to print - retouching archival material, designing the layout and organising printing/production. 

We are able to operate autonomously or, if preferred, work closely with clients throughout the process to ensure the result matches their expectations.

CATHY SOUGHTON

Cathy is an experienced professional and qualified house historian with over thirty years' experience in historical research. 

She has a degree in Medieval and Modern history (which included modules specialising in local history and palaeography, both in Latin and English) and a Post Graduate Certificate in Architectural History from the University of Oxford. House history research is a specialised field and whilst many of the available documentary sources are those used by genealogists, as an architectural historian Cathy is also qualified to investigate the structural history of a house.

Cathy is a member of AGRA, the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives, which requires its members to meet high standards of expertise and professional conduct by proving their competence. She is one of the regular Ask the Experts at the annual Who Do You Think You Are?  show at Olympia.

 SARA FOX

Sara is an experienced house, garden and landscape historian with a passion for houses and the process of unravelling their past.

Her academic background (BA English Studies; MA Landscape Archaeology and currently PhD in English/History) informs her work - she has researched and written numerous property histories; notable subjects include a small gentry house with a history of bequests down the female line, a Georgian townhouse with connections to the artist Henry Raeburn, a manor house and its ornamental woodland and a farm with literary connections. She has written two books - one is a landscape history of the farms and field names in the Upper Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire and the other is the history of a local school. She has also researched the history of the Somerset village Marston Bigot and its ancient parkland for a heritage statement.

“Every house has its own story,” Sara explains, “and I find each project deeply interesting. It is very satisfying to draw all of the threads together and share in the excitement of the owners during the process”.