Our Services

GW Conservation and Dorothea Restorations have been responsible for the successful completion of more than 400 contracts, many on high-profile sites for prestigious clients, including The Parliamentary Works Office, Historic Royal Palaces, English Heritage, The National Trust, The British Museum, and municipal authorities nationwide.

Architectural projects include metalwork on the Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Parliamentary Offices, Marylebone and Paddington Stations, The British Museum, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Clifton Suspension Bridge, and dozens of other sites.

Mechanical engineering projects include machinery in the collections of the National Maritime, Railway and Science Museums, hydraulic stage lifts for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, major works on the Lady Isobella Water Wheel, Isle of Man, Moulton Windmill, and over 100 other wind and water mills.

Geoff Wallis is a term consultant to English Heritage on the conservation of cast and wrought ironwork, and to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Trust on both historic machinery and metalwork.

We aim to provide:

• Ethical Conservation.  Please read our Conservation Policy.
• Original ideas and robust engineering
  supplying new mechanical devices.
• Experience. We have over 55 years of practical experience on a diverse range of historic machines and architectural/structural metalwork.
• Viable contracts, fixed-price where possible, with areas of uncertainty identified in advance as far as practical.
• Periodic reporting of expenditure relative to the budget.
• Personal service. We supervise or carry out each project personally, focusing on the details, and providing 'instant action' emergency breakdown service if necessary.
• Ongoing support, operator training, written guidelines, condition/safety surveys, planned maintenance, and emergency call-out.

Our specialised skills include:

• Cast iron stitching & welding
• Structural welding of wrought iron
• Riveting & rivet-busting
• Supply of recycled Wrought (puddled) iron
• Conservation blacksmithing, using WI
• External metalwork coatings
• Dressing, repairing and manufacturing of burr millstones
• Repairs to traditional wind/watermill work
• Restoration of historic machinery to working order
• Activation of large historic machinery for demonstration purposes
• Operator guidelines and training
• Safety advice and audits
• Conservation advice, plans, and budgets