Mr Thomas’s Chop House is arguably the best-preserved public house of the Victorian era in the city. So naturally, when it came to cleaning and restoring the fabric and structure of the grade II-listed building, Maysand's expert craftsmen were appointed to work with specialist heritage engineer, Fred Tandy.

Tom’s, as it is affectionately known, was one of the first cast iron frame buildings in the city. Its exterior walls are a mixture of Accrington brick and decorative terracotta blocks; the latter were hand cast and delivered hollow when it was built, to be filled with concrete and fabricated over the frame on site.

The current tenants see Tom’s as something of an institution: 'We like to think that we have not inherited Mr Thomas’s, rather that we are borrowing it from our successors' is their philosophy.

In 2004/5 Tom’s underwent a major programme of internal refurbishment. This time however, the attention was turned to its impressive external features, and to the fabric of the building. And it was Maysand’s turn to take care of Mr Tom’s.

Maysand specialists cleaned the terracotta façade and side elevation without chemicals, as contracts manager Lee Wilkinson, explains: “We washed away the grime with nothing more than low-pressure water, whilst areas of heavier carbon build up were given a light brushing.”

Lead gutters were repaired and terracotta refixed on the pediments where it had been dislodged, then cosmetic work on minor damage was done using lime mortar, colour-matched to be as unobtrusive as possible. The iron window frames were removed and taken away for examination, before being either refurbished or replaced.

But perhaps the biggest challenge was the installation of a full cathodic protection system to tackle damp: wpenetration had caused some corrosion to the steel structure, so steps had to be taken to prevent any further deterioration.

“Even minimal water ingress can cause a problem over time,” says Lee. “One millimetre of rust will expand up to five times, and that could eventually unseat the terracotta. It would be a mammoth task to replace the steel structure, so the best course of action is to suspend any further corrosion. We do that by inserting a special alloy wire into the building. The wire, laid to follow the steel structure, is set into joints and pointed in so that it’s not visible. Then an electrical current — the sort that might be used to power a doorbell — is directed through the wire.”

The final phase of Maysand’s task was to source suitable stone to replace the granite plinths which had been removed during the CP work.

Image (right) shows: the legendary Mr Thomas's terracotta and brick façade