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Heritage Roofing
Heritage roofing - maintaining our iconic buildings
The UK is home to some of the most iconic buildings in the world, from stunning churches and cathedrals to historic stately homes. Each and every one of these remarkable feats of architecture requires regular maintenance to ensure they remain in the very best condition, allowing them to be enjoyed for generations.
Cathedral Care
Restoration and upkeep of cathedrals
There are some 42 Anglican cathedrals in the UK, not to mention 20 or so Catholic cathedrals. Cathedrals form the most important collection of historic buildings in England. The largest and most ancient are internationally famous, the smallest are usually among the most significant buildings in their region and even the most recent are architectural masterpieces.
Master Craftsmen
Championing our heritage with modern craftsmanship
Twenty years ago, English Heritage (now Historic England) published its first-ever Register of Buildings at Risk across England, which featured nearly 2,000 buildings and monuments that were ‘neglected, broken and unloved’. Recently Historic England was delighted to announce that over two-thirds of those buildings were now safe, in both urban and rural areas right across the country.
Traditional Lime
Lime: it’s better for buildings – and for the environment
It is now fairly well known that cement is not good for old buildings and that lime mortar should be used. But why? What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages? In order to begin to answer those questions it is necessary to understand the nature of traditional building, the process by which buildings used to be built, and how it differs from modern construction, the process by which we build today.
Audio Visual
Audio visual equipment in church buildings
This guidance is issued by the Church Buildings Council under section 55(1)(d) of the Dioceses, Mission and Pastoral Measure 2007. As it is statutory guidance, it must be considered with great care. The standards of good practice set out in the guidance should not be departed from unless the departure is justified by reasons that are spelled out clearly, logically and convincingly.
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CRE Events
Exhibitors enthuse over the CRE experience
By 4pm on the first day of CRE 24 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, exhibitors Chris and Kim Dunphy had already had so many helpful and detailed conversations with visitors that they were “completely talked out”.
Insurance
You need to ensure that reasonable precautions are in place at your church to keep it safe for those who use it. To do this, you need to think about what might cause harm to people.
You will then need to decide if the precautions already in place are adequate. If they are not, you may need to identify further action to prevent any danger. When done formally, this is known as a risk assessment.
Church Maintenance
Church maintenance and repair: Calendar of Care
Just as prevention is always better than cure, maintenance is preferable to major repairs. But, such repairs may not always be avoidable. Church Care offers a monthly guide in our coming issues Starting in Spring
We can help you understand the common problems and areas that need your special attention, and give you tips for regular maintenance schemes.
Pest Control
Michael Palin warns of pest threat to churches
Michael Palin is supporting the future of the UK’s historic churches and chapels with a voiceover for a new animated film. The 80 second animation, produced for the National Churches Trust, highlights why churches are some of the nation’s best loved buildings.
Town Halls
The history of the great Victorian Town Halls of Northern England
From industrial squalor to civic pride, the story behind some of the most impressive buildings of the North involve a unique mix of economics, grand designs and noble sentiments within communities.
Lead Roofing
Lead is one of the oldest materials in the roofing industry and is still commonly used throughout the world today.
Lead roofing is a traditional roofing method which has been used in the industry for hundreds of years, and is therefore proven to be extremely reliable. Lead roofing, and sand-cast lead, in particular is ideal for old buildings such as churches or historical renovations, whereas milled lead roofing is a mass-produced alternative, used for precision and accuracy in homes and commercial buildings alike.
Lightning Protection
When lightning strikes are you protected against this act of God?
The issue of lightning protection in churches is one that has exercised this publication for many years. In this four-part series of spotlights on the issue we will be revisiting various aspects of the subject, beginning with an overview of current thinking.
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Essex Restoration Builders Reaches 125th Anniversary
E May and Sons are a family business established in 1889. Now run by the fourth generation of the family, they provide a range of building skills with an emphasis on friendly personal service, attention to customer needs and a willingness to tackle unusual projects. A small dedicated team has a total of over 130 years experience and are able to call upon the services of a group of trusted and reliable sub-contractors some of whom have worked with them for over thirty years.
Stately homeowners go dotty over revolutionary anti-theft technology
A revolutionary invention - developed with the help of ballistics experts - to safeguard against metal thieves is being launched at a North Yorkshire stately home today.
Trace-in-Metal, which has been designed by a former West Yorkshire police detective, fires thousands of microdots into metal sheets “marking” them with a unique identifying code.
Specialist Bird Pest Control Services
All animals have their natural predators - even urban birds that have had no first-hand experience of predators still carry the genetic memory. The site of a bird of prey is enough to cause the pest to take flight, and when hawks/falcons are flown in a specific routine it will alter their roosting and nesting patterns.
East Riding Pest Control Ltd have a variety of birds of prey that they use to deter many pest birds from occupying an area. Their hawks and falcons are trained over a long period specifically for bird control.
Dernier & Hamlyn enlightens Art Deco splendour at Claridge’s
Claridge’s is recognised as the finest art deco hotel in London. Having started life as a magnificent private house, it was re established as a hotel and then purpose built on the current site in 1898. It quickly became a favourite of European royalty and heads of state.
Much of the art deco design and features added through the 1920s and 1930s remains in place and has been enhanced over the years.
Oil paintings - why conservation?
Oil paintings are at great risk from damage by water, fire, vandalism, central heating, damp storage, removal, auction and the normal ageing process.
At his studio in Addlestone, Surrey, Guild of Master Craftsmen member Robert Mitchell uses modern global friendly conservation techniques to achieve some remarkable transformations on paintings from the 16th century to the present day.
Holy Trinity Church, Leeds gets user friendly heating - with reduced costs
When Holy Trinity Church in Leeds wanted to reduce the large running costs they were paying to keep the church warm they contacted Manchester based church heating specialists HeatinGlobal and entrusted them with the task of making a more user friendly system with reduced costs.
DeepStore provides storage for WWI Archives
DeepStore Records Management, as the approved remote depository for The National Archives, has been entrusted to provide secure storage for a large volume of First World War records.
Documents from the war include regimental and individual service records, medical records and medal award index cards and associated files. Copies of original letters to families and loved ones from soldiers serving on the front line are also contained within the collection.
Traditional Heritage Roofing throughout Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds
Allsworth Roofing are a well established provider of traditional roofing throughout Oxfordshire and the Cotswold areas and the glowing testimonials found on their website assure top rate craftsmanship in skills such as
- Traditional cotswold slate roofing
- Other traditional slate and tiles (both new and reconstituted)
- Leadwork
- Barn interiors and exteriors
- General building restoration
- Work on period property
Architecture to honour the past and fit the present
The Chideock Memorial Chapel, part of the Manor of Chideock, is a building rich with ancient English and religious history. Starting life as nothing more than a barn in the grounds of the manor house, it became a place of secret Catholic worship in the wake of the of the Civil War, before Humphrey Weld, and then his son, Charles, transformed the barn into a beautiful church, dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus.
Obviously, with such incredible history running through the building’s very foundations, any construction work on the chapel needed the utmost care and attention to detail. Every action would need to be sympathetic to that history, and enhance rather than dilute the chapel’s architectural integrity.
IKO Permaphalt - History is in the making
This year, as we commemorate the Centenary of the First World War and the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, IKO’s thoughts turn to the construction of British war memorials built to pay homage to those who fell in battle. British War Memorials are some of the most iconic architectural structures in the world and Theipval in Picardie, France is no exception.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission contacted Bell Asphalt to assist with the roof renovation at Thiepval - the largest war memorial in the world dedicated to the missing of the Somme who died in battle and have no known graves.
About Access is the safe solution for historic castles and dragons’ dens
About Access is drawing on its increasing experience of historic buildings to warn owners and occupiers of their responsibilities in terms of the law and good business sense.
The History of Alfred Groves & Sons
In 1660 William Groves (Stone Mason) set up in business in Milton-Under-Wychwood due to the proximity of stone quarries at Upton, Taynton and Burford.
William Groves, master mason, was invited by Christopher Kempster, assistant to Sir Christopher Wren’s master mason Thomas Strong, to join Wren’s team of masons on the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Ecclesiastical architect is remembered with bespoke restoration project
The unusual roof of a Byzantine-style church built in Sheffield by renowned ecclesiastical architect Adrian Gilbert Scott (1882-1963) has been restored in a painstaking project requiring all the tiles to be specially made by hand.
As a Grade II listed building of great historical and aesthetic significance, it was important that the roof, which had fallen into a state of disrepair, be restored to the curious specifications laid down by Gilbert Scott himself in 1932.
Plenty more in store as firm reaches 2m+ milestone
One of the UK's best known storage providers, DeepStore Records Management, is celebrating a milestone having reached over 2 million boxes of assets, which are stored within Britain’s largest salt mine.
The company, which is part of the Compass Minerals group, set up in Winsford, Cheshire, in 1998, is now aiming to increase the number of boxes it stores to 3.5 million in the next 12 months. It already operates vault space the size of 700 football pitches with items under current management equating to 3.25 million cubic feet.
Dunoon Pier by Sandtoft
Dunoon Pier dates back over 100 years and is the only remaining working Victorian pier on the Clyde. Owned by Argyll and Bute Council and under the protection of Historic Scotland, it is a landmark of the River Clyde estuary, with the pier’s building listed as Grade B.
Today, Dunoon Pier still receives a connecting ferry with Gourock and provides a vital link to the mainland which supports the local economy.
Grade I listed school falls prey to low grade theft - lead strippers threaten our heritage
Police are on high alert after lead strippers stole irreplaceable lead from a unique 17th Century building in Appleby Magna.
The Sir John Moore Foundation was constructed between 1693 and 1697, based on an original design by Sir Christopher Wren and Sir William Wilson. It was established and financed by Sir John Moore, the younger son of the local squire who became Lord Mayor and Alderman of London. The school occupies an elevated position to the south of the village and sits in its own walled, landscaped grounds totaling just over 3.5 acres. The main school building is Grade I listed whilst the gates, gate piers, wall and outbuildings are all Grade II listed.
Lime mortars in traditional buildings
Historic Scotland publish a short guide on lime mortars which is aimed at building professionals who deal with issues relating to the maintenance and repair of traditional and historic buildings and structures. However, it will equally be of use to contractors, home owners and students with an interest in lime mortars and finishes, traditional materials and historic building maintenance strategies.
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