Architectural ironwork specialist Dorothea Restorations has completed the restoration of the main gates at the British Museum in London.
The 10-month restoration project, featured on BBC2’s series The Museum, saw the 20 tonne iron gates completely refurbished from top
to bottom by our highly skilled craftsmen and architectural engineers.
The cast iron gates were originally erected in 1852. The elaborate design is 40ft wide and consists of two pairs of main gates and two
side gates creating a magnificent entrance to the museum.
Dorothea Director Peter Meehan said: “The museum gates are a truly wonderful feat of engineering design. Each 5 tonne gate is beautifully designed so that the hinges are not visible when they are open creating smooth, flowing lines that add to their grandeur.”
And Project Director Geoff Wallis added: “It has been a real pleasure
to lead the restoration, and to see our work featured so prominently on a BBC documentary.
“This was a challenging contract with many unknowns at the
outset, strict site constraints and tight tolerances between large components. I am proud of the result my team achieved.”
Before any restoration work could be started hundreds of individual components were carefully dismantled, photographed and catalogued. Geoff explained: “With a complicated job like this we needed to be sure that everything was recorded so that it could be put back together correctly, requiring 2000 photos and hundreds of diagrams.”
The museum initially realised the gates needed restoration in 2000 when they first seized. Dorothea was called in to ensure the future
of these magnificent gates was secured for generations to come.
Mick Jones from the British Museum said: “The historic Gates are the main access to the museum, so they need to be fully functional. We are very happy with the work undertaken by Dorothea, who produced a good technical result to programme and budget.”