Brass Door Hinge Restoration Project | If Hinges Could Talk…

A Palladian Mansion in Surrey designed by the famous 18th century architect Henry Holland in 1778 has seen many uses over its lifetime.

Today, the building is part of the Claremont Fan Court School. During that time, the brass cast hinges on the original doors have stood the test of time. But by 2024, even they were beginning to show signs of wear and tear.

The facilities team at the school approached the master hinge makers at Cooke Brothers to see if they could replace the hinges like-for-like. “I have genuinely never seen a hinge that has been operating so successfully for so long,” says Cooke Brothers’ Technical Manager, Rajan Sudera. “They had clearly been hand made by a really excellent blacksmith nearly 250 years ago, and the wear was only just beginning to show.”

A Restoration Challenge for Cooke Brothers

Rising to the challenge, the team at Cooke Brothers decided to try to restore the hinges instead of replacing them so that they could have many more years of useful life. Cooke Brothers has been making hinges since 1872, and the company is still owned and run by the 5th generation of the Cooke family. The company has the expertise, facilities, and manufacturing capabilities to produce bespoke products, whether it’s a custom hinge design, a particular finish, or a precision-engineered component. Our in-house team can develop a solution that fits the exact requirements of a project.

The Cooke Brothers team took the Claremont Fan Court hinges apart and found that, apart from cosmetic grease and dirt buildup, the hinges were essentially sound, apart from wear and tear in the brass pin and the hinge knuckles. The team replaced the pin, restored the knuckles, and polished the finished hinges to look as good as new – perhaps even better!

The new hinges now grace the four doors in the Henry Holland Room at the school, from the library and entrance hall into the classroom, appropriately named after the architect that commissioned the original hinges in 1778.

Do you have a restoration or custom hinge project in mind? Contact us to discuss how we can help.