The Victorian Buildings, Dolgellau

19 Feb

Written By Felix Clarke

The Victorian Buildings in Dolgellau were restored under the Dolgellau Township Heritage Scheme, a program that has been running for the past 15 years.

The scheme aims to grant-aid commercial buildings in the town centre, helping to restore them to their original Victorian architecture. This initiative has been a huge success, ensuring that Dolgellau continues to attract large numbers of tourists and local shoppers.

As part of the project, architects conducted historical research, uncovering photographs from 1905, showing the building during its early years as a shoe shop. These photographs were used as the basis for the design and restoration works, ensuring an accurate replication of the original structure.

Project Overview

Phillips & Curry commenced works in November 2021. Since the project required the removal and replacement of the entire roof structure, a large structural scaffold with a temporary roof was erected to protect the exposed building from the weather.

The old roof structure was completely stripped, and a new steel truss was lifted into place to support a new treated softwood cut roof. The two stone chimney stacks were rebuilt on new lead trays, and the roof slopes were felted, battened, and covered with Ffestiniog slates. The hip joints were traditionally finished with lead hip rolls.

The exterior walls of the building were carefully raked out and repointed using traditional lime mortar, restoring the historic character and integrity of the structure.

While the roof works were underway, 15 new traditionally crafted sash windows were installed, while approximately a dozen original windows were carefully restored. The existing windows were splice repaired, overhauled, and returned to full working order.

Shopfront Restoration

To complete the project, the existing structural openings of the shopfronts were enlarged, restoring them to their original dimensions as seen in the historical photographs. The new shopfronts were meticulously crafted by ICH Joinery, a local joinery company, following the architects' original drawings.

All shopfront mouldings, pilasters, and signage were carefully reproduced and fitted, ensuring an authentic Victorian appearance. Finally, all windows and doors were decorated in the existing hardware shop’s corporate colors, bringing the project to a faithful and historically accurate completion.