Hope Mausoleum Restoration

I had a day on site finishing off the final touches to these gates made around 1818. It has been a real privilege to work on these gates. Damaged by vandals in the 1960’s and then buried inside the mausoleum shortly after they had not had an easy life. Works included re-seating the six large X casting that are held in with lead, mending the damage by the vandals to the drop bolts and remaking the keys for the original lock box. I was able to mend the original mechanism and make a number of keys from the internal components. As the gates were the main form of security for the mausoleum we hand to allow to install a temporary access door which was secure enough to keep people out but removable in nature as not to cause any damage to the very soft York stone. Note the clamp style framework and wooden packers in the welding image to protect the stone. Here i am welding all the nuts and bolts shut once we were happy with the fit to prevent any one from undoing the studding. The best part of the commission was finding a pocket of fish oil trapped in the gate from the original works in 1818. Little things like that keep you humble as to the grand scheme of things when it comes to restoring such old ironwork.