Testimonials

“Warwick Restorations were first recommended to me some years ago, with the assurance that I would get quality service. It was a recommendation that has proved to be more than accurate. Richard Lawman’s expertise is rooted in true craftsmanship, and his knowledge of antiques is extensive. He takes pride in the finish of every piece he restores, whether it is a modest Victorian hall chair, or a priceless museum piece. I have been privileged to see his work on both. He uses none of the shoddy tricks of the trade employed by others in the profession to patch up damage; nor does he butcher a valuable piece by over-restoring it. I believe he regards himself as something of a custodian: his remit is to restore, to bring life back into furniture and to safeguard it for future generations, while we continue to enjoy it in ours.

In this same tradition of preservation, Mr. Lawman has passed his expertise and valuable skills to his daughter, Emma, who has become something of an expert herself, thus ensuring that the quality of Warwick Restoration’s workshop retains an unbroken tradition of the high standards and skills, which Richard learned while under apprenticeship to some of the best craftsmen in the field.”

D Mayer
Streatham

“Just a short note to extend my greatest appreciation to you and Emma for the fantastic job you both did on my cabinet!  I am sitting in the room with it now and since we have put the items back into it, it looks absolutely beautiful.  We did as you suggested and cleaned away the “sticky” patches on the back with methylated sprit and then re-coated the surfaces with some coloured wax polish and there is barely a trace of any stain or scratch.  The whole thing looks so lovely my Mother would have been so pleased.  Thank you both for all you hard work and kind attention; quality of service really is such a rarity these days.”

C Murphy
Croydon

“I collect Victorian and vintage breweriana – see my website: “Hotmog’s Victorian Breweriana” www.victorian-breweriana.me.uk

Last year I was donated a rare example of a surviving Victorian “cash-register” design beer engine, which was removed from The Eagle Inn at Skerne, near Driffield in East Yorkshire, when the pub finally closed for good in 2003. During the intervening four years it had been stored in a garage, and its condition had unfortunately suffered significant deterioration by the time it passed to me. Much of the wooden structure was rotten, the curved mahogany veneer was badly cracked and breaking away, and it was full of worm-holes. In fact my wife insisted that I kept it covered inside a large plastic bag, so paranoid was she that some woodworm might still be active and escape to wreak havoc within the house.

Many people, professional antiques restorers included, would have considered this piece a lost cause. However I wanted to do what I could to preserve this rare gem of Victorian social history, and was fortunate enough to find in Richard Lawman and his daughter Emma a local partnership who specialise in sympathetic restoration work using traditional materials and techniques. Both Richard and Emma take great pride in what they do and, on the basis of the results they achieve, this is certainly well justified. I was extremely impressed with the care Richard took to source exactly the right materials to match, the painstaking attention to detail, and the superb quality of the finished article. The price quoted was very reasonable too given the scarcity of the materials required and the amount of work involved.

The Eagle’s beer engine represented not only a rather unorthodox, but also a difficult and extremely time-consuming challenge that few restoration specialists would even have agreed to take on. Richard saw it as a labour of love.

Thank you both, Richard and Emma, for doing such a fantastic job on the beer engine. The Eagle itself may be no more, but thanks to your skill, care and craftsmanship, the pump that was its heart for almost 140 years will live on. Be it a priceless antique or merely a modest heirloom in need of a some TLC, I can thoroughly recommend Warwick Antiques Restorations to anyone who is looking not just for a competent result, but one that will surpass all their expectations.”

G Green
Worcester Park