Why can’t modern railings match the originals?

Heritage fans will know that grimace you pull as you walk down a street and see something new installed where something old used to be. A modern railing, for example. The thin, consistent, evenly spaced thin steel tubes that look so cheerful and tidy in a new build, but in a century-old house, are like a freshly painted brick outhouse. All character lost.

The thing is, these replacements often came about because they were more practical to install. Modern wrought iron just doesn’t work the same way as the original stuff.

Firstly, it’s not just the material itself – there’s a great difference between the two. Wrought iron has a fibrous structure, similar to wood, and as such, it deforms rather than cracks under load. Modern steel will snap in half if you tap it too hard with a hammer. Also, wrought iron has a different corrosion rate, and once it starts to rust, it will decay more slowly and with a certain distinction. For Wrought Iron Railings, contact //donkeywellforge.co.uk/what-we-make/wrought-iron-railings

The second factor is the craftsmanship that went into the original work. Many Victorian houses still have the original railings, and you can tell from the small details, such as the collars, scrollwork, and finials, that these were done by hand rather than punched out on a machine. This personal touch, with attention to detail, and a certain uniqueness that you simply can’t reproduce with mass production.

Finally, there’s a visual quality to the original wrought iron. It’s just the right size and style for the Victorian houses, a perfect match. The proportion of the metalwork to the house is deliberate, in an effort to add harmony to the design. The replacements, by contrast, are just there to stop someone from falling off the edge.