Cleaning and Conservation for Crown Jewels’ Home

Cleaning and repairing the building which houses the Crown Jewels in HM Tower of London and at the same time keeping it open to the public proved a challenging task for masons.

Experts from PAYE Stonework and Restoration, working on the Waterloo Block inside the Tower took extensive precautions to maintain permanent safe access to one of the country’s most important tourist attractions. As well as erecting covered entranceways and boxed-in scaffolding, PAYE craftsmen had to use equipment that was sympathetic to the site.

Although HM Tower of London has been the home of the Crown Jewels since 1303, the present Jewel House – on the site of the Grand Storehouse – was not built until the 1840’s/ Its construction reflects the rest of the tower’s buildings and Kentish ragstone is extensively used just as it was when William the Conqueror ordered the first stone tower to be built after the Battle of Hastings.

HM Tower of London, Waterloo Block cleaned and repaired over two years has now been completed

Because the Waterloos Block is a Grade I listed building, it has been carefully conserved. Gentle hand-cleaning and the minimum of new stone indents was the policy adopted by PAYE repair specialists.

‘As main contractors we managed the whole operation in co-operation with the surveyors from Historic Royal Palaces. That mean we were able to combine sympathetic conservation with modern cleaning and repair technology’, explained Robert Greer, PAYE’s Senior Contracts Manager.

‘We had to undertake on-site sampling of new materials for replacing the eroded stone sections and at the same time made sure that our presence was not disruptive.’

Part of the building uses Anston limestone, a material also used in the Houses of Parliament but no longer quarried. As an alternative, White Mansfield was used which is generally recognized as a suitable match.

As part of the unique requirements of this unusual contract, before any work could commence PAYE specialists had to devise protective coverings for a pair of historic cannon that flank the entrance to the Jewel House and could not be moved.

The whole project which has taken two years to complete under three phased contracts will culminate in the presentation of a swagger stick to the Yeoman Body, found within the walls during the works. PAYE has also carried out other contracts won by competitive tender during this period which have included part of the Inner Curtain Wall, No.4 Casements and the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula.


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