Our company history

Dorothea Restorations is a business born of passion. Founded in 1974 by a group of enthusiasts who first came together as volunteers working to protect Britain's great engineering and industrial heritage

This was the nascence of industrial archaeology, and Dorothea Restorations quickly found itself at the frontline of the movement - The now historic machinery and equipment which had powered the Industrial Revolution, was being left to rot and decay through lack of care, attention and resource.  

The Ethical Conservation and Restoration Policy we developed was adopted as a best practice standard across the architectural ironwork industry, and we consistently pioneered new techniques as every new challenge was found – either rediscovering traditional craft techniques long since lost or employing the latest technologies to solve very modern problems involving traditional materials.

As our reputation for this combination of traditional metalworking skills and modern engineering practice grew, we were increasingly asked by architects, heritage bodies and the construction industry to look at structural and architectural metalwork. This work grew steadily, and architectural ironwork eventually became the mainstay of our work. More of which, can be found in our case studies.

Having been founded in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, the company quickly expanded with new workshops in Bristol, allowing us to offer a genuinely nationwide service. In 2019 we moved our Bristol operation to new, bigger workshops nearby.

Following the demise of Dorothea Restorations Limited parent company in 2011, the trading name was taken over by Wallis Conservation Limited John Wallis.  We retain the same passion for our work and still build on the same principles, skills and inventiveness for which Dorothea has become well known.