Restoration of 19th century gate for private estate, Oxfordshire, 2022

The gate had a lot of badly corroded and missing elements to its design and it no longer opened as the pivot pin had been corroded through rust. The gate was carefully dismantled and removed from site, then shot blasted to remove old paint and loose metal/rust. Each damaged section was assessed to see whether it needed replacing altogether or rebuilding in new steel. As a final touch of respect to the mastery and history behind this old gate, Billy designed and forged a new key to fit the lock which would once have been in use.