The reclaimer
From its early days restoring roll-top baths, Holyrood Architectural Salvage is now home to Edinburgh’s finest collection of antique fireplaces and cast-iron radiators alongside a whole host of interesting salvaged finds
We visit Holyrood Architectural Salvage in Edinburgh
Back in the mid nineties, Ken Fowler had a bad experience with a bath he had paid someone to restore, and thought he could do better himself. So, he started his own business, All About Baths, sourcing old roll-tops in need of repair, and employing a local spray painter to re-enamel and restore them to be sold, working across Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders. ‘Some of my customers were looking for a full suite and so I started to source Victorian basins, toilets – some with decorative high-level cisterns – and taps,’ explains Ken. ‘We used to strip the chrome off the taps and polish the brass underneath – it was wonderful to see them restored to their former glory and I caught the salvage bug.’
Ken became a full-time salvage hunter and was often seen digging through skips, frequenting scrap yards and visiting any site that was being demolished or restored – everything from asylums and old hospitals to stately homes and schools. Wherever treasure was to be found, Ken was there.
Working out of a small workshop and showroom, stock was quickly growing and larger premises were needed. Then Ken chanced upon the old Drysborough Brewery in Duddingston, near Holyrood Park on the outskirts of Edinburgh. ‘It’s an amazing listed structure and was the perfect setting for our growing collection of salvaged finds,’ he says. ‘I struck a deal with the landlords and the business went from around 500 square feet to 6,600 square feet overnight. The stock we had at the time looked ridiculously inadequate in such a cavernous space, but we changed the name to Holyrood Architectural Salvage and set ourselves the task of building the business.’
The showroom still consisted mostly of baths and sanitaryware, but increasingly customers were asking for antique fireplaces, panelled doors, Belfast sinks and other original features to complement the wide range of period properties in the surrounding area. A friend of Ken’s, Alan Brown, joined the team and the pair took their lives into their own hands removing a host of items from precarious sites. The range increased and now the yard is full of all kinds of architectural salvage. ➤
A local competitor had started a few years earlier but Ken noticed that everything they sold needed restoring. ‘I decided I didn’t want to just sell things that then needed a middle-man to bring back to life,’ he says. ‘What’s the point of buying an antique fireplace that you can’t renovate and fit easily?’ Ken and Alan decided that they wanted to be different from all the other salvage yards in the area and took on skilled staff to restore the salvaged items. Joiners and blacksmiths became part of the regular staff and where possible everything is restored before sale. ‘We want to preserve Edinburgh’s rich architectural history – this includes removing fireplaces that were destined for the rubble pile as well as restoring and installing them in a new home,’ adds Ken.
Although sanitaryware is still close to Ken and Alan’s hearts, the cost of restoration and lack of available replacement parts has taken its toll. ‘A lot of good quality reproductions have been made of period pieces and the market in old sinks, toilets and cisterns has virtually gone,’ says Ken. Instead, the business has refocused on fireplaces, with a secondary specialism in cast-iron radiators. ‘Most fireplace reproductions look nothing like the originals, as they don’t have the character or patina. Copied inserts have been gleaned from cities far afield and don’t resemble those that are traditional to Edinburgh. Buying from a local yard not only keeps the money in your area, but the carbon footprint of buying a reproduction that has been made in India or China and shipped over here is massive.’
The yard stocks a huge range of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian cast-iron inserts and wood, slate, marble and occasionally stone mantels. ‘Restoring an antique fireplace is time consuming, but it is also rewarding to see something look better than it has for a hundred years,’ says Kevin Barlas, Holyrood’s restoration expert. ‘With the boom of things like Gumtree it’s easier for people to buy and sell salvage themselves, but they are not the kind of thing people can restore easily themselves.’
Fireplace restoration can be split into three broad categories: wood, stone and cast iron. ‘Wooden mantels are either stripped or patched depending on their condition and any repairs are
Ken’s top tips for buying an antique fireplace
● Be realistic about what you can do yourself – people generally underestimate the work involved
● Talk to your dealer – if you don’t see what you want in the showroom just ask, as chances are it can be sourced or is just waiting to be restored
● Make sure that all the necessary parts are there. We sell everything complete but some yards operate on an ‘as seen’ basis
● If its painted it’s probably for a reason – never assume what’s underneath!
● Although the fireplace is old you need to adhere to current regulations, so make sure it’s installed by someone who knows what they are doing done with the same kind of wood, our French polisher then matches the colour as near as possible,’ explains Ken. ‘If we can’t decide what finish would look best then we sometimes leave it bare and finish it however the customer wants.
‘Marble, slate and granite mantels take the most time. The pieces are stuck back together, any chips are colour matched and filled, and finally the whole thing is wet polished. This process can take over a week. When restoring a cast-iron insert, we start by stripping and cleaning it. If it was originally polished we’ll bring it back to its former glory, but if not we’ll repaint it and give it a black lead finish. We seamlessly extend them all to about 42” x 42” so they work with just about any mantel.’
After 25 years in the reclamation business, Holyrood Architectural Salvage has built up an excellent reputation in the area, providing not only one of the best fireplace restoration services in the country but a unique location to wander around and explore all types of architectural salvage. You might even spot some of the unusual finds that
Ken and Alan sourced when they first started out in the business and were learning the ropes, including items on the ‘can’t sell list’ such as a pair of huge columns from a masonic lodge and a bronze bank teller’s screen – these are things that will never really make money but dress the place perfectly, creating the ideal ambience for a salvage experience to remember.