Client: Tyne and Wear Preservation TrustLocation: Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Contract Value: £1,512,370
Contract Period: October 1997 – August 1998
The works comprised the structural and internal repairs to two adjoining and linked Grade 1 listed buildings in order that they could be used as offices. Our craftsmen had to painstakingly strip back the building carefully in order that the original materials could be used as much as possible.
The house was then refurbished using traditional building methods including using the likes of horse hair plaster on riven laths to restore the plaster finishes to their former glory. The oak staircase which rises into the lantern tower was also dismantled, repaired and refixed using the existing oak balusters. The carpets were specially designed and weaved to ensure that it would be as near as possible to the original carpet dating back to 1756.
Added Value
Due to the sensitive nature of the works to this grade one listed building the works were programmed to ensure that the restoration of the building was carried out with the greatest of care. As we opened up the works all materials that could be reused were catalogued in order that they could be incorporated back into the works in the same position. Our Site team was handpicked for their experience in this type of work. The Tyne & Wear Preservation Trust were delighted with the results of our team’s efforts and the quality of restoration achieved throughout this important historic building.
Points of Interest
Alderman Fenwick’s House is one of the most important mercantile town houses in any city in the North of England. With medieval origins, it occupies two plots on the main route to the North and seems to have been substantially built in the mid-seventeenth century. The oak staircase rising into the lantern tower and the ornate ceiling in the Great Room are of this period
