Bentley Hall

Bentley Hall is a grade II* 17th century house in Derbyshire, in private ownership. In September 2006 it was gutted by fire leaving large parts of the house structurally unsafe and with a collapsed roof, not to mention saturated with water. The insurers liaised with English Heritage, who recommended that Skillingtons were bought on board to deal with emergency works to several very fine decorative plaster ceilings of circa 1660, which had remarkably largely survived the fire but were critically unstable.

Further investigation revealed that a canted stone bay to the front of the house was on the point of collapse, and we were asked to partially dismantle and rebuild this as well as carry out emergency works to the ceilings.

One thing led to another, and we ended up successfully tendering for the management contract for the complete repair and renovation of the property. This complex project was finally completed in July 2008, our contract value being well in excess of £1M.

All stonework, brickwork and plasterwork, and much of the structural timberwork was carried out by our own employees, with scaffolding, roofing works, new carpentry, glazing and all M&E work being sub-contracted. We were particularly pleased to be able to bring Hugh Harrison on board to conserve the wonderful six-flight Jacobean staircase, retaining as much of the original fabric as possible.

Everybody was delighted with the project – in the words of Dr Mark Askey (Derbyshire Dales DC Conservation Officer) speaking for the Conservation Advisory Forum  after a site visit, "All members who attended site ...were very impressed by the quality and care that has gone into the repair of the house".

Contract value range: £1.0-£1.5M
Client: Private client.
Architect: Latham & Co.
Contract Administrator: SP Property Services
Insurers: Chubb Insurance
Loss Adjusters: Davies Loss Adjusters.

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Houghton House

Skillingtons won the main contract for the repair of this ruinous Jacobean mansion in Bedfordshire for English Heritage. The work was carried out during 2006 and comprised the conservation of brickwork, clunch conservation and replacement, stabilisation and protection of decorative and plain plasterwork, and wall cappings.

Particular issues with this project were: working in phases that allowed continuity of public access to the majority of the site; security of a remote site; and stabilising parts of the building fabric that were never designed to be exposed to the elements in the way that they now are.

The work was completed to a very high standard, to programme and to a budget, all in all giving this fascinating property a new lease of life in its ruinous form.

Contract value range: £150-£200K
Client: English Heritage
Architect: RH Partnership Architects

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Harlaxton Manor

Harlaxton Manor, near Grantham, is a magnificent house built in an Elizabethan Baroque style, grade I listed, initially designed by Salvin, who was replaced by William Burn in 1838.

In 2008 Skillingtons won the main contract tender for the repair and refurbishment of the gatehouse, including major structural repairs (to timbers, plaster floors and to iron beams), re-roofing, extensive stone repairs, window repairs, and extensive re-plastering (all in lime). As part of this contract we also rebuilt two retaining walls, restored two courtyards and  carried out extensive drainage works.

The house is now the British campus of an American university, with the gatehouse destined to be accommodation for visiting lecturers.

Contract value range: £300-£400K
Client: The University of Evansville
Architect: Graham P. Cook

Skillingtons have built up a good relationship with the college and regularly carry smaller works to the main house.

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DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum

DH Lawrence was born and raised in a humble terraced house in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire – which is now a museum commemorating his life and work.

Given the nature of the property every aspect of the fabric is of historic importance and any repairs and maintenance have to be carried out extremely carefully so as not to compromise its historic value.

Skillingtons won the contract for extensive repairs including dealing with damp issues, localised plaster patching, masonry repairs, roofing works and decorations including conserving historic wallpaper. This was all carried out to a tight programme in early 2010, on schedule and to budget.

Contract value range: £25,000 - £30,000
Client: Broxtowe Borough Council
Consultant: Dr David Watt (Hutton and Rostron)

Brickwork

The conservation of historic brickwork is a specialist field in itself that combines traditional (and often lost) skills and lime technology with contemporary conservation philosophy. Skillingtons’ team of conservation bricklayers, with CSCS Heritage Skills cards in this area, have many years of conservation experience.

Subtle brick replacement (having sourced closely matching reclaimed bricks) and discrete localised re-pointing are exemplified by our restoration of a Grade II* listed Georgian facade in Retford during the summer of 2010 for a private client. Here the original lime pointing was carefully examined, and a re-pointing mix determined that matched this with the stopping largely weathered away, and toned-down so as not to be visually obtrusive. The mortar comprised Singleton Birch NHL2 hydraulic lime and carefully selected sands.

A very different feel is needed for works to Ancient Monuments, whether this be a large 17th century ruin such as Houghton House (see tab above) or 15th century brickwork at Tattershall Castle. At Tattershall we carried out repairs to the moat retaining wall in 2010, including carefully matched lime mortar finished to a level that protected the full bricks yet left visible and clearly defined weathered bricks that were still sound enough to be retained. Replacements were kept to a minimum and were of new handmade bricks made to closely match the originals. This work was carried out directly for the National Trust in 2010.

Tuck pointing is another specialist brick conservation skill that our team carry out. For example, we restored the facade of 52 High Street, Holbeach, Lincolnshire, complete with tuck pointing and surprisingly dark grey backing mortar, all to closely match surviving areas of original brickwork.