"Charles Brooking has made a lifetime's study of historic architectural detail, with a particular focus on the myriad variations in their fittings over the past five hundred years.  His knowledge is unrivalled and his workshops and seminars provide a practical and accessible introduction to the subject for anyone interested in the history of historic buildings or specifying their restoration.  These are illustrated with examples from the rich resources of the Brooking Collection, most of which were rescued by Charles from now demolished buildings."
Dr Michael Turner, Inspector, English Heritage

WHAT IS THE BROOKING COLLECTION?

The Brooking Collection is Britain's only comprehensive collection of architectural detail originating from buildings, domestic and commercial, ranging from castles and palaces or the grandest country house to the smallest artisan cottage.  The Brooking Collection covers features extracted from buildings dating back five hundred years and some taken from 1960 icons. 

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Picture courtesy of the University of Greenwich

HOW CAN THE BROOKING COLLECTION HELP ME?

Charles Brooking is the country's leading authority on the development of the window and door and associated joinery, and he can be called in to advise on restoration and replacement of historic detail previously lost. 

Architects and designers use the Collection to help them reproduce items to replace architectural detail damaged or missing from buildings of historic interest that they are refurbishing.

Already engaged by some of the nation's foremost conservation architects acting on behalf of major landowners and bodies responsible for important public buildings, Charles can help you, too. 

Charles can provide advice on major projects, or simply write a report to satisfy planning requirements by, for example, confirming dates and provenance where these have been disputed.  He can also help professionals or home-owners resource materials to restore features unsympathetically repaired or replaced in the past.

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SOME TYPICAL ENQUIRIES

“We live in a house dating from the late seventeenth century and have a complete cross-section of windows, ranging from wooden casements and sashes to cast iron. We have no idea what the originals would have looked like and whether we still have any left.  Someone told us that we had some original casement mullions, but they seem to have modern casements.  We should like to see what they would have been like before we do anything about restoring them.”
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“I’ve got an 1830s house which originally had sash windows that were removed in the 1980s.  Do you have examples of 1830s sash windows to show me how they would have looked, so I can get them faithfully reproduced?”
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“I’m enclosing photographs of some Victorian fire places in my house.  I believe some date from the early Victorian period and some from the end of Victoria’s reign.  Could you identify them from catalogues in your museum, please?”
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“I am enclosing some photographs of windows in my house that I believe to be around 300 years old.  Can you identify them and tell me if they have been altered?”