The launch follows Ashley’s completion of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Scholarship in 2025.

Since 1930, the Scholarship has trained architects, surveyors and engineers in the repair of historic buildings. Only three or four Scholars are selected each year. Over nine months, they travel across the UK visiting repair projects, working alongside craftspeople and recording what they see in sketchbooks.

Ashley’s Scholarship included visits to major conservation projects such as Edinburgh’s North Bridge and Duart Castle, as well as the National Trust’s Clandon Park and Westminster Abbey, alongside many other sites and repair projects across the UK. In Scotland, this included time spent studying country houses, among them Ardkinglas, Gosford House and Traquair House.

Before the Scholarship, Ashley worked as regional building conservation surveyor for the National Trust for Scotland, acting as client-side adviser on the repair and adaptation of historic properties.

Ashley established Crowstep Conservation to bring the knowledge and skills gained during the Scholarship to projects across Scotland. The practice provides condition surveys, defect diagnosis, repair strategy, listed building consent advice and project delivery. It specialises in masonry structures, traditional construction and sensitive buildings that require a careful conservation approach and deep knowledge of materials.

Ashley said: “The Scholarship taught me to look at a building slowly, and drawing was how I learned to do it. Most failures in old buildings start with a wrong diagnosis, often followed by the wrong intervention. I set up Crowstep to give owners, trusts, estates and congregations a clear understanding of their building, so they can make economical, long-term decisions about its repair and future use.”

Crowstep Conservation works across Scotland with private owners, estates, heritage trusts and church bodies.