During this time, all voids were opened, and remaining floorboards and panelling were removed to hasten the drying out following extensive water damage. Damp sensors were installed to monitor conditions which could have led to fungus growth and to control timber moisture levels. The second phase of the restoration contract lasted two and a half years, with the completion date of2 October 1991 as the goal. Major work was needed to rebuild the roof. After a massive bird-cage scaffold had been installed throughout the interior of the building, a new roof section was constructed around reusable trusses which had been de-charred in situ. Replacement King and Queen post trusses were manufactured on site, with Douglas fir sections as the bottom chords and oak for the rafters, posts and struts. After a test assembly, each truss was dismantled then lifted to the roof in sections. Some bottom chord members measured as much as 11 m in length and weighed up to 700 kg. Most of Wren's original wrought iron straps and hangers were saved from the fire and, after reworking by blacksmiths, were reinstated to their original positions to connect and strengthen joints. The roof was covered in Codes 7, 8 and 9 lead - probably the single most expe~sive material in the entire programme of works. Derwentcote is English Heritage's latest industrial monument, taken into care and restored by chem. The country's best preserved 18th century steel cememation furnace, Derwentcote has survived major disturbance primarily as a result of its semirural location. Indeed its position is puzzling to the casual visitor who is probably unaware chat the now peaceful Derwent Valley was the centre of the country's 18 century steel industry. CONTEXT 56 One concession was made to modern technology: 47 smoke hatches were installed 1n the roof. These are programmed to drop open if their nickeltitanium bolts are heated to a predetermined temperature. They then allow smoke to escape from the roof cavity in the event of a fire so that the temperature cannot build up a.nd allow flames to spread. Fire barriers were also introduced behind panelling and between floors, and a more sophisticated computer-controlled building management system was installed to monitor any temperature changes. As work continued on the lead roof above, the bird-cage scaffold was gradually dropped to allow reconstruction to the third floor. Main beams, binders and joists were installed to receive the seashell pugging which Wren used as sound insulation between floors. After the fire, sackfuls of shells were extracted from the building and washed so chat they could be returned to serve their original purpose. Ceilings were re-plastered using chestnut laths for repairs where possible and modem Riblath, or metal lathing, for completely new ceilings, such as in the Cartoon Gallery. This Gallery was originally designed to hang Raphael's Cartoons bought by Charles I, and it features a 400 m2 ceiling, 6.6 m above the floor level. A detailed survey was undertaken of the cornice chat DERWENTCOTEFURNACE RESTORED The furnace itself is a stone built structure, rectangular on plan with a conical 'chimney' buttressed on two sides. It contained two chests of refractory sandstone in which the metal was 'cooked' in charcoal, and heated from coal burned in a long firegrate below. The restoration work has achieved the rebuilding of the ancillary buildings, conservation of the cone, thorough archaeological assessment, excavation and inspection, and che remained; then it was necessary to piece together the jigsaw of salvaged sections to determine which were missing and the pattern they should follow. The 27 ornately carved oak capitals to the pilasters were cleaned and restored offsi te, then reinstated to their original posmons. More specialist joinery work was required to replace, stain and polish the panelling since each State Apartment had its own individual panel tone and colour. Using the best of the salvaged panels for tone samples, new and repaired panels were stained and polished to re-create the lustre that had taken 300 years to evolve. In parallel with the main contract, extensive repairs and re-carving were carried out by expert carvers to the superb Grinling Gibbons limewood carvings. These were reinstated over fireplaces and doors in time for the hand-over ceremony. Similarly, English Heritage specialists worked to clean Verrio's painted ceiling to the King's Bedchamber; this had been protected by a covering of mulberry paper while building work went on. After the complete removal of the interior bird-cage scaffold, random width pine floor-boarding was fixed using the original dust strip notches in joists to calculate the unique size of each and eve1y board. The new southern yellow pine floors were then sanded ready for handover of the completely restored building. interpretation and presentation of the monument to the public. Nearby are the remains of workmen's cottages and of an 18 century forge site, both elements of which are fragmentary and heavily overgrown. Ian M. Avris who is a member of the Specialist Conservation Team at the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, organisedthe industrial archaelogical elements of the conservation programme on the building. 35
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