English Ironwork of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Book excerpt: This title comes with a new Introduction by Bethan Griffiths and Peter Milington. We are fortunate today that there is a far greater understanding and appreciation of our heritage, and how it should be cared for, than there was at the time J. Starkie Gardner's book was written. For the many people interested in and involved with the care and conservation of heritage ironwork "English Ironwork of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" is an invaluable reference, not just for researching specific pieces but also for understanding the historic context of the ironwork of the period. It is also full of illustrations of once surviving examples in need of repair, and these photographs can give clues to their original form. Where ironwork has gone missing, the information can help to inform the design of replica work. There are few books on decorative historical ironwork and the small number there are highlight the fact that, overall, the subject of wrought ironwork has been insufficiently studied and is a rich field for cataloguing and research. Within the pages of Starkie Gardner's book are clues to the identification of further pieces of ironwork, particularly the many he did not cover, from which there is still much to learn. It is hoped that reissue of the book acts as an inspiration to those involved with the study, care and refurbishment of ironwork to continue the work he started in the recording and sharing of ironwork discoveries. However, the huge amount of surviving work of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries should not be forgotten as of this also too little is known; here again there is need for further cataloguing and research.