Chris Topp & Co are well known in the restoration world for restoring ancient ironwork and they recently hosted a morning workshop for architects and conservation officers as part of a three day course run by the National Ironwork Heritage Group – NHIG, that was based at the Kings Manor in York. Complex restoration projects often go out to competitive tender, but someone has to write these tenders and therefore have the correct knowledge to be able to specify the techniques and materials to be used.

There is a knowledge gap and the NHIG offered this course to architects, surveyors or conservation professionals to equip them with the essential facts needed for the writing of restoration specifications. 

The participants came from all over the country; they were shown several restoration projects they are currently working on, including the restoration of the ‘Golden Gates’ from Elvaston Castle. These gates were erected in 1819 at the south end of the castles formal gardens. They were brought from the Palace of Versailles by Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, and were a good illustration for the group to appreciate that the specification for repairs is very important.   The repair work, once done using the correct materials and techniques, should last a hundred years with only routine maintenance. If inferior materials and modern day methods is used you may have to do the work again in only thirty years – sometimes less.

Chris Topp & Company has the distinction of being the only blacksmith company in the world today still rolling and supplying genuine wrought iron.

As such this rural north Yorkshire company, employing a unique team of traditional craftsmen, regularly undertakes commissions to restore ancient works of wrought iron work in parks, cathedrals and great buildings in this country.

Blink Films filmed at our workshop for a documentary about the Eiffel Tower called ‘Monumental Challenge’.

The Eiffel Tower has undergone a restoration programme, the first major works since the tower was built in 1889. It was built by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, which was to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the French Revolution. Its construction in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days was a technical and architectural achievement and was only intended to last for 20 years.

Blink Films have captured this major programme of works and explains how, this now iconic monument, has stood the test of time and why the wrought iron material used in its creation is so important.

Blink Films filmed at our workshop the processes, which we still use, that would have been used in the making of the 7,300 tonnes of wrought iron for the Eiffel Tower’s construction.

Chris Topp & Company based in Tholthorpe near York, has the distinction of being the only blacksmith company in the world today still rolling and supplying genuine wrought iron.

This documentary is being shown on the History Channel on the 29^th March at 9pm.

For the last eight months, North Yorkshire blacksmith company, Chris Topp & Co, have been creating decorative and intricate ironwork items for Scotland‘s Stirling Castle as part of its £12 million restoration.

On Wednesday the 6^th July, Chris Topp travelled to Stirling to be in the company of Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when the Queen re-opened the Royal Apartments. Chris Topp was among the VIP guests attending a lunch in the Castle’s Great Hall following the Queen’s tour and opening ceremony. 

A team of seven specialist blacksmith craftsmen at the company’s forges in Carlton Husthwaite and Tholthorpe, rural villages between York and Thirsk, had to first research the traditional techniques of 14^th century blacksmiths before replicating many items commissioned by Historic Scotland for their Stirling Castle restoration.

Before creating twelve six foot high candle standards, it entailed visits to the Victoria and Albert museum in London to view a surviving 600 year old pair of standards originally holding candles. Chris Topp’s new versions had to conceal cabling to the electric styled candles needed to meet 21^st century safety requirements.

“Our blacksmiths have had great fun in creating pieces of iron work to a 15^th century design but adapted for present day safe public viewing” says Chris Topp. It included four brass chandeliers, various candle sticks, fire baskets, fire backs, fire dogs, fire place equipment, rods and hundreds of hooks.

This is the latest major prestigious restoration commission undertaken by this 30 year old North Yorkshire company whose clients already include the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, and numerous stately homes.

The restoration of the 1000 year old great Castle has been a 20 year project to re-establish the castle interior to how it possibly looked 550 years ago when King James V of Scotland suddenly died leaving his infant daughter as Mary Queen of Scots.  

When in 1603 Mary’s son, James 6^th also became King James 1^st of England, he moved his court to London and as over the years the castle became more prominent as a garrison, the Royal Apartments lost their importance. It is this area of the Castle that has had the major part of the recent restoration and now houses the North Yorkshire made creations.

It is an ambitious and bold move by Historic Scotland to improve Stirling Castle’s image as a major Scottish tourist attraction and the restoration programme is on going.

When a young enthusiastic and ambitious Chris Topp started up his own blacksmith business in rural North Yorkshire, he could not have dreamt that 30 years later he could boast amongst his clients Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, Hampton Court and a long list of stately homes, cathedrals and major historic public and commercial buildings.

This year, 2012, is the 30th anniversary Chris Topp Ltd. The company is now regarded as the market leader in Britain in the restoration of heritage ironwork, particularly in their speciality of genuine wrought iron.   They believe they are the only company in the world still producing wrought iron!

They also have an excellent reputation in the design and production of new high quality ironwork, working not only in wrought iron, but with a variety of metals – cast iron, mild and stainless steel, bronze, brass and copper included.  

And while Chris Topp appreciates the prestige and image boost that results from working on large national heritage sites, he and his team are equally at home creating small objects making repairs to churches ‘ ironwork and commissions for private houses.

The company also administer within their two rural workshops north of York, the Real Wrought Iron Company which produces charcoal and puddled wrought iron which is both used in their own work and supplied to other blacksmiths. Genuine wrought iron -resistant to corrosion- can last centuries and was produced many centuries before the industrial revolution eventually lead to the introduction of mass-produced mild steel.

Today the company has 15 employees including a number of highly skilled smiths with various specialist forging experience – a far cry from Chris and one young apprentice back in 1982. He recalls his proud first commission of making the historic ironwork at Middleton Hall near York when it became a luxury hotel. It earned him £9,000, a huge sum in those days.

Over the years there has been steady growth in the company which is now fortunate to regularly handle contracts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds from well-known commercial and government bodies.

Chris has a real passion particularly in the field of restoration of ancient ironwork, and new ironwork for ancient buildings. A good example was made last year (2011) when the company created a new altar screen for Ely Cathedral using ancient materials and techniques but to a modern design. Says Chris Topp: “it gives my team and I quite a thrill when we realise that this item is likely to remain in this location, untouched for centuries”. The screen and accompanying items were made in genuine wrought iron and re-rolled from anchor chains acquired from the former Gibraltar naval yard.

There is a huge public misconception on what is genuine wrought iron however Chris Topp & Co are experts in the field. Often any form of intricate iron work in gardens or on gates and railings is incorrectly referred to as being ‘wrought iron’ while in fact being made in cast iron or mild steel.   You are certainly not likely to find any product in your local DIY store made of genuine wrought iron and the difference in value between the ‘real thing’ and imitations is enormous as is the life expectancy of the two products.

It is of no surprise therefore that the company is often called in by Trading Standards officers and other bodies to advise as to the authenticity of an alleged item of ‘wrought iron’. ‘Important’ says Chris, ‘because of the need to increase the understanding of the production of traditional iron materials’.

To Chris too many priceless pieces of historic wrought iron are being ruined forever by the repair or restoration with iron and steel materials and not real wrought iron.   He works tirelessly in the field of metallurgy and archaeology in raising the standard of restoration work by blacksmiths and bodies working in the field of historic buildings. He is frequently consulted on archaeology by bodies such as the BBC ‘Time Team’ film makers.

As Chris Topp looks to the future he has increasing worries about the training of new entrants to heritage ironwork. He was a leading light in the formation in 2009 of the National Heritage Ironwork Group (NHIG).

NHIG aims to preserve the skills of ancient ironwork smiths and thanks to help from a Heritage Lottery Fund grant awarded under its ‘Skills for the Future’ programme has set up a training bursary. There is little formal training for heritage blacksmiths in the Europe and Chris Topp and Co frequently employ other nationalities keen to gain experience in ornamental design and restoration work.

Chris would also like to see the profile of blacksmiths raised and their artistic work recognised as an art form. Although there are thousands of great ornamental ironwork items in this country blacksmiths are seldom represented as artists.

Chris would like to encourage the incorporation of high quality ornamental metalwork into the design of prestigious new buildings. The provision of gates and railings is often left to last when they are the first thing visitors see and the opportunity is lost to give that all important first good impression?