Labour of Love
Volunteers on target for project

By Alan Carter

Work to restore the Oxford home of C.S. Lewis is on target to be completed by the centenary of the author's birth in two year's time.

Groups of volunteers - including large numbers of Lewis enthusiasts from America - have been hard at work under the direction of the C.S. Lewis Foundation to return the house to its original 1930s appearance.

The lengthy project took a big step forward -- with the installation of a 193Os AGA as part of the restoration of the kitchen.

The cooker, donated by AGA Rayburn, was given to volunteers, including a group of 28 from America who are spending the summer in Oxford on the latest phase of, the restoration.

The project to renovate the house as a study centre for scholars and students is about two-thirds complete and should be finished by the 1998 centenary.

The author and Oxford don, best known for his Tales of Narnia, spent 33 years at Lewis Close until his death in 1963.

The property - The Kilns in Risinghurst - was saved from ruin in 1988 when a group of C.S. Lewis enthusiasts bought it. Copies of the author's furniture are being made by two experts from America, using old photographs of the house interior.

Foundation director Dr Stanley Mattson said about a third of the restoration now remained to be carried out.

He said: "This summer the main work is the restoration of the kitchen to the 1930s appearance, then the conversion of the garage to a reading room. We will have everything done by the conclusion of this summer except the fine detail - things like wall hangings."

The foundation says it is determined to maintain the special character of the house as a centre for contemplation and study, rather than turning into a tourist attraction bringing in coachloads of visitors.