Restoration specialist requests from Medway
Medway has deep building history, from Rochester's historic centre and Georgian houses to Victorian terraces in Chatham, Gillingham and Strood, with ragstone and flint in older villages on the Hoo Peninsula. Tell us about your period property and we'll pass it to restoration specialists covering ME1 to ME8.
- Rochester's historic centre has conservation areas and many listed buildings, so speak to Medway Council before starting work.
- Victorian terraces in Chatham and Gillingham often keep original sashes, doors and staircases that are worth repairing.
- Kentish ragstone and flint walling is common in older village buildings and boundary walls around Hoo and the peninsula.
Georgian and older houses in Rochester's conservation areas
Rochester's High Street and the streets around it have timber-framed buildings hidden behind later fronts, Georgian brick houses with sash windows and doorcases, and plenty of listed buildings. Work here usually starts with a conversation with Medway Council's conservation officer, especially for windows, doors, render, roofs and anything that changes historic fabric inside. A specialist can survey what survives, suggest repairs that keep as much original material as possible and, where needed, prepare a heritage statement for a listed building consent application. Scaffolding in narrow historic streets may need a licence and careful timing, so ask whoever quotes how they'll handle access, deliveries and protecting the pavement and neighbouring fronts.
Ragstone, flint and stock brick from Strood to Hoo
Away from the historic centre, Medway's older buildings mix materials. Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Strood, Chatham and Gillingham are mostly brick, often with decorative bands and stone sills, while older cottages and walls in Hoo and the peninsula villages use Kentish ragstone and flint. Ragstone weathers unevenly, and cement pointing can speed up decay of the stone around it. Repairs usually involve raking out, resetting loose stones and repointing in lime, with badly decayed stones cut out and replaced. Exposed sites near the Medway estuary take more wind and driving rain, so ask a specialist to look at copings, caps and drips that keep water off the wall tops.
Towns and villages covered
Postcodes: ME1, ME2, ME3, ME4, ME5, ME7, ME8