Barr and Grosvenor were appointed by the PCC to carry out the restoration of these historically important gates made by Robert Bakewell in 1725.  They were originally made for the entrance to Osborne House, a property in an adjacent street to the Cathedral.  They were not moved to the front of the Cathedral until the 1950’s.

The gateway was showing signs of deterioration.  They were carefully removed from site and transferred to a workshop environment for treatment.  They were cleaned to remove old paint layers and corrosion back to a sound surface.  Minimal repairs were carried out under the guidance of the project architect, Robert Kilgour.  Genuine recycled wrought iron was used for any replacement pieces with as much original material being retained as possible.

Once carefully repaired the gateway components were fully repainted using a modern 2-pack paint system applied by spraying.

The Bakewell Gates were returned to site and fitted into new limestone copings with the ironwork being secured with caulked lead.  A final decorative coat of a traditional oil-based paint was brush applied to give the cobalt blue finish.  Selected decorative details were then highlighted in gold paint.