Orwell Park Private School is located in Nacton, Suffolk.  Hodgsons Forge was asked to restore their magnificent entrance gates. The Grade II listed gates were installed at Orwell in the 1850s. However, local rumours have always circulated that these impressive gates were plundered from the Spanish War.  The gates are over 155 years old.

 

The gates themselves were carefully removed and brought back to our workshop in Terringston St Clement for painstaking restoration. The gates, which had not been removed since their installation in 1850s, were carefully stripped to reveal the outstanding wrought ironwork.  Eighteen layers of paint, rust and corrosion were removed.

 

The structural elements of the gates which were beyond repair, were replaced whilst supporting structures such as the pillars, were carefully strengthened and repaired on site.

 

We spent nearly nine mouths restoring the gates, replacing seriously corroded sections with new wrought iron and putting in additional iron to consolidate the main areas affected.

 

Members of the Hodgsons Forge team attended the opening ceremony at Orwell.  We were proud to attend and to be part of the team that made the restoration possible