During major works to the house it was deemed necessary to consider the dilapidated condition of the large 200 year old gates which secure this 20thC Open Market property.
After the Owners were advised that replacement was their only option, they sought advice from Conservation Surveyor Stuart Pearce and decided instead to proceed with a programme of sensitive repair. The gates and surrounding high granite walls are not “Listed” but are clearly an important part of Guernsey’s military heritage.
The key to carrying out such work is careful specification so as to repair the various elements of the gates by applying modern conservation philosophy, and to find the right Craftsman for the project. Having carried out similar repairs to the Town Church spire in 2007 with Specialist Joiners Marcel & Ken Laine, CCD Architects approached Marcel to tackle the challenging repair work.
The intention was to retain as much of the historic fabric as possible, using a combination of traditional pegged jointing and modern resin repair techniques, where traditional methods would cause the loss of either too much fabric or would obliterate various historic features (including impact damage caused over years of military use).
The four main iron ‘C’-profile hinges, which were originally riveted in place, were extensively corroded internally with some of the rivets almost completely destroyed by rust. It was initially thought they were beyond repair, but after careful removal of these sections and building-up of the hinge with specialist chemical ‘metal’, they were able to be retained. The ordinary flat bracing was replaced.
Automation of these heavy gates was then installed to allow ease of use by the building Owners.