Beard completing Christ Church Deanery and Treasury repairs

Craftsmen from Oxford are currently completing a 6 month project to conserve and repair external stonework on the Deanery and Treasury at Christ Church in the centre of Oxford.

Work on the Grade I, historically significant building, involves very careful replacement, repair and cleaning of masonry, window surrounds, stone detailing and buttresses, which have eroded over the years. This also includes repairs and consolidation works on the Fell Tower, with its statue of Dean John Fell.

Beard was chosen for this important work due to their wide experience of projects involving historic and occupied buildings, including many of Oxford’s college buildings.  A collaborative approach with college officials, conservation officers and project advisors Purcell Miller Tritton, has enabled the team to carry out the meticulous work while minimising noise and disruption to senior college staff, during weddings and ceremonies in the adjacent cathedral gardens.
  
The Dean of Christ Church, the Very Rev Christopher Lewis has been especially pleased with progress adding further elements to extend the scope of the project. He commented: "I am full of admiration for Beard's work on Christ Church: at all times careful and cheerful with high-quality results."

Beard is no stranger to Christ Church, recently completing a project to refurbish the 19th century Meadow Building. This involved internal improvements to student accommodation and work on the building’s external fabric including extensive stonework cleaning and repair, lead works, timber restoration and re-roofing.

Beard Construction Director John Youle said: “This is our second project at Christ Church in the space of two years. Achieving the right balance between conserving the building and preserving the structure for the next hundred years, is our primary focus, but we are also very conscious of the requirements of a busy college working environment, which have to come first.”