After carrying out substantial conservation work at Alnwick Castle, the historic baronial seat of the Dukes of Northumberland, HPR tendered for the initial work on the roof of Syon House in 2007 as part of a £600k initial restoration programme. The successful outcome resulted in the company being asked to negotiate two further phases of work at Syon.
The third £1.5M phase in 2012 involved further work to the roof chimney’s, stone parapets and balustrading and the complete rebuilding of the North East Tower. Seventy tonnes of lead was used in the re-roofing. We carried out further specialist joinery repairs on the windows and repaired floor and ceiling joists.
A memorable part of the contract involved the careful removal of the three tonne hollow lead lion statue from the roof of the building for restoration. The white painted, 260 year old life-size lion was in a poor state of repair having lost its tail and feet to weather and pollution over the centuries. It was sent to a specialist conservator while HPR carved a new base and the pair were reunited and hoisted back onto the roof of Syon House. The Percy Lion is the family’s heraldic emblem and it was a momentous occasion for staff at Syon House to see it back in position fully restored to its former glory.