GLAZING & METALWORK

St Blaise is peculiarly privileged as a main-contractor working only with Historic Buildings in that we become familiar with all the trades involved in putting a building together. We manage and see the work of a wide variety of “single trade specialists” and have learnt enormously from them

We have worked on many conservatories of glass and wood, or glass and iron Stonewall Park and we have worked on many buildings of iron Bath Bandstand

Glazing

We value historic glass enormously and the character it bestows. We like the crudeness, chunkiness and discolouration of medieval quarries and the exquisite delicacy, subtle distortion and fragility of the larger Victorian panes

Muff, broadsheet and cylinder, crown or spun… These are descriptions of the two more common types of plain glazing used ‘till modern times

We have leaded our own lights with diamond, rectangular and even prismatic quarries. We have removed, conserved, and re-fixed the most delicate panels of stained glass in masonry rebates on rusting ferramenta

We have carefully cut out, repaired, and cut back in, individual quarries in leaded lights.

We have extensive experience of the care needed to remove crown glass from sashes in want of repair. We learnt the hard way a long time ago, that infra red putty softeners can shatter glass by the expansion thro’ heating of the iron frames or overtight and oversized sprigs

We are conscious of the history of the lead came and the cross section of its heart. We know how it was extruded and latterly rolled. We recognise the importance of the beaded flat section and how inappropriate the convex cambered cross section is in earlier glazing

Glazing Case Studies

Metalwork

We are engineers in the metalworking sense and have conserved historic cannon (!) Royal Citadel, Plymouth as well as structural or decorative cast iron, wrought iron and architectural ironwork

We understand architectural ferramenta, its conservation and repair and, occasionally, its reproduction. We regularly re-tip rusting ferramenta and repair valuable ironmongery

We are familiar with corrosion science and keep up to date with the technology of rust prevention, inhibition and conversion. We are interested in the use of chelating agents to remove unwanted corrosion. We know the best paint systems for different metals, ferrous and non-ferrous and understand the implications of electrolytic decay, dissimilar metals in contact thro’ saline solutions, and the very antithesis of that, cathodic protection

We are not blacksmiths, but we understand their craft and we commission work from the best

St Blaise tendered for works on the Albert Memorial and the Hereford Screen, possibly the largest and most complex architectural metalwork conservation contracts in recent years

Metawork Case Studies