Conservation & Repair

SOURCING ORIGINAL WARNER ESTATE FEATURES

Door Furniture

Victorian/Edwardian door furniture on the Warner Estate was ornate in style and manufactured in cast iron by Archibald Kenrick & Sons in West Bromwich. It was painted in black enamel paint (‘japanned’).
Post-WWI dwellings had simpler styles which combined the letter box and knocker in one

Knockers

The Kenrick No. 405 style knocker was used extensively across the Warner Estate
Other original styles include the Kenrick No. 333 (‘barley twist’ style, found on some properties on Warner Road) and a plainer style (No. 399) at the top of Leucha Road
Original knockers are available on eBay and Cast In Style sell good reproductions of No. 405 (Code C30)

Letter Plates

Original letter plates include the Kenrick No. 8 and a similar style with a more rounded top, however they are relatively hard to source and have small openings for post
An alternative is a Kenrick No. 4 letter box. While it wasn’t used on the Warner Estate, it is of the correct period and has a larger opening. Reproductions are available at Cast in Style (Code D418 or D3651)

Doors & Paint

The majority of Victorian/Edwardian front doors were five-panel, with the top four panels glazed
Original doors are sometimes available from All Doors, 248 Lea Bridge Road, E10 7LN
They should ideally be painted in the original Warner scheme of ‘brilliant green’ picked out in cream. The specialist hard-wearing fade-resistant gloss paint was supplied by Leighs Paints in Bolton (standard formula paints generally will not retain their original green hue and will fade to a blue or yellow tone). The paint can be purchased from Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, who acquired Leighs: C530 Single Pack Alkyd Quick Drying High Gloss in BSC369 (cream) and R3113 (‘superfast brilliant green 101’)

Sources

Owen, Michael, Antique Cast Iron, Littlehampton, 1977
Osborne, Guy, Leucha Road Conservation Area, LBWF, 2005

Door numbers

We are often contacted regarding the original painted numbers on the fan lights above the doors. Although hand painted numbers may not match a contemporary font exactly, many people have found that Clarendon works well with a drop shadow. They can be produced in adhesive vinyl or a sign writer employed to produced a hand painted version.

Comments (18)

Aug 22, 2015 at 17:16 Nick

I’m about to paint my Warner door this green – http://www.littlegreene.com/brilliant-green

I’m hoping it’s about right!
Nov 1, 2016 at 16:03 shamus lacey

hello
im in the process of restoring my front door back to the original. this is all going well. I’m stuck trying to find the font for the flat number on the glass above the front door.
can anyone help?
shamus
- Nov 1, 2016 at 20:16 exwarnerproject
  
  The closest match we’ve found is Clarendon.
Jun 8, 2017 at 17:17 Paul Tasker

Hello, does anybody know what kind of glass was used above the door with the Clarendon-style font for the number? I’ve heard it called “smoked glass” but wouldn’t know how to order such a vague description but I’ve also seen on some Warner properties a kind of grid design in gold and an umber-like colour.

Any steers gratefully received,
Paul in Warner Road, E17
Apr 2, 2018 at 20:08 John

I’m in the process of buying a Warner flat with a hideous pvc front door…

I want to start looking for an original Warner front door and have found one for a reasonable price, however I’m unsure of the dimensions of the existing door. Does anyone know if they are all the same size, or all they all different sizes??
- May 31, 2018 at 11:00 exwarnerproject
  
  hi John, as the properties were built over a number of years there can be some differences in size, although a joiner may be able to adjust if the door is not quite the right size.
Jun 5, 2018 at 10:34 Kate

Hi I’m planning to restore my (poor, battered) Warner front door. Two things: does anyone know someone who could give me any advice/help with the trickier bits? Did the paint for the front doors have lead in it? Thank you.
- Jun 16, 2018 at 07:50 exwarnerproject
  
  hi kate, the original paint probably did have lead in it yes as that was common at the time. Sorry we don’t have a list of tradespeople but you can probably find some by using local Facebook groups. Good luck!
Nov 7, 2018 at 16:48 jane harper

Hi, I’m looking for someone to sign write our house number above the front door on the glass. I read somewhere that there is a sign writer specialising in warner flat door numbers. Do you have any ideas of who that is? Thanks very much.
- Nov 19, 2018 at 18:47 exwarnerproject
  
  Hello Jane, yes it’s Mia Warner (good name!) http://www.miawarner.com. Lucy
Nov 19, 2018 at 18:48 exwarnerproject

thanks Daniel. the tiles are quite easy to get hold of – just look up quarry tiles – but the laying of them can be quite pricey and I don’t have a specific recommendation. You could try Walthamstow Recommends Facebook group for some ideas. Lucy
Feb 28, 2019 at 21:17 Betsy

Hi

I love this work and the warner flats

If anyone knows where to go for a warner door other than lea bridge road. Please let me know

Also what type of locks fit well on the external door. Nightlatch and five lever mortise OK?

Also interested in trades to redo the path please

Thanks!
Mar 3, 2019 at 16:04 Alexis

Hello! After many years, I’ve finally got hold of an original Warner front door and a reproduction knocker from Cast in Style. I have a very niche question about where to put it!

I notice in all of the pictures on your website, the knocker is attached so that the bottom of it is in the middle of the 4 panes of glass. On my street, the norm seems to be for the TOP of the knocker to be in the middle of the 4 panes of glass, including on doors that look like they’ve been there forever.

Were both placements originally used? Or have people been taking their knockers off and moving them down a few inches?! This is suddenly a huge and important dilemma you see! 😉
Jun 30, 2019 at 08:15 exwarnerproject

you could try Harlequin glass on Lea Bridge Road. However the original glass wasn’t safety glass so the exact same one is probably not still available.
Aug 2, 2019 at 12:10 Natalia Wilkoszewska

Hi there,

We have original Warner’s door and need to find some original beading as it is damaged. We don’t need a lot to replace it but were wondering if you have any clues as what type of beading it is and who could make a replacement for us?

Thank you,
Natalia.
- Nov 14, 2019 at 15:03 exwarnerproject
  
  Sorry, I don’t know about the beading, you could ask on Walthamstow Recommends Facebook group to see if anyone there knows?
Aug 28, 2019 at 12:25 Ursla

Those trying to source the green colour used on the front door you can go to the Sherwin-Williams website and put in C530 Single Pack Alkyd Quick Drying High Gloss. A range of colours comes up including brilliant green. It is very expensive £85 for 5l because it is not intended for front doors.But when you click on brilliant green you get the following code BS381c221. If you then go to https://www.e-paint.co.uk/Colour_alternatives.asp? and search for an alternative using the code it suggests options.
Hope this helps
Jun 22, 2020 at 06:57 Chris

Hi, we wanted to re-do our front walkway in the traditional red and black brick you see in many of the warners. I was wondering if there was someone local that could be recommended please? Thanks!