Till recently, the Daylesford gate has only been available as a custom designed farm gate. Due to it’s popularity, we have decided to include it as a standard design under the bar gates collection, in the heritage style country gates range. Modeled on the entrance gate to the historic ‘Wombat Park Estate’, in Daylesford, Victoria the gate is:
We’re often asked to replicate old heritage gates that someone’s seen and fallen in love with. The usual scenario is that you’ve got an older property which has lost the original gates but you haven’t been able to buy an old gate from anywhere. You need something ‘old’ to suit. The one gate we’ve been asked about the most is the one shown in the Vic Tourism ad for Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. This gate graces the driveway entrance to the historic Wombat Park Homestead with it’s magnificent gardens.
If you want a wrought iron gate or fence in Adelaide it’s important to understand the difference between a genuine wrought iron product that will last a lifetime and a cheap and inferior product which will never look the same or last as long. The more Farmweld’s reputation grows, the more we hear about “fake wrought iron”. A large percentage of Adelaide fencing businesses advertise wrought iron gates when in fact all they supply are thin tubular steel panels adorned with cast aluminium spears. It’s surprising how few people recognise the difference between genuine wrought iron gates & fence panels and these cheaper tubular products labelled as ‘wrought iron’.
Farmweld is one of a few professional artist blacksmith businesses practicing the age old craft of blacksmithing within the Adelaide area, in South Australia. Located at Birdwood, in the Adelaide Hills we have one of the last forges able to take on large projects as well as small. Over the last 20 years we have produced some lovely examples of traditional wrought iron.
Blacksmithing is no longer taught as a trade in Australia, with few working professional blacksmiths, let alone Adelaide or South Australia. Many businesses who advertise ‘wrought iron’ products use imported components, or cast iron products. Tweaking ready made wrought iron to fit is quite difficult, so for something to look well done it needs to be made properly from the start.
Mass produced wrought iron components have their place in fabrication, but they need to be tweaked to fit.
Locally, handcrafted wrought iron is dearer than mass produced wrought iron or imported products that are made overseas in third world countries, however the benefits of buying your wrought iron-work from Farmweld is that you are:
Hand forged wrought iron can be made more affordable by using a combination of traditional and modern metal working techniques. It’s often said that if blacksmiths of old had access to a welder or angle grinder, they’d certainly have used one. An example of how wrought iron can be more affordable is to use a combination of modern welding techniques rather than forge welding or riveting.
Modern blacksmiths have the advantage of using modern and traditional techniques. This piece uses traditional blacksmithed scrolls and ironwork for the fancy parts of the gate, however the frame is welded. Once painted it will be hard to tell that this gate has not been entirely, traditionally blacksmithed.
Modern machines like welders reduce the labour time. Consequently this brings down the price of what would have been an entirely hand forged the wrought iron piece. The finer details such as scrolls are still traditionally blacksmithed so it still looks, and is, hand forged. Because the scrollwork and details are hand made, and tailored to your piece, the design is kept in proportion and doesn’t look like a modification.
This reproduction of a heritage farm gate has been entirely hand forged and riveted.
Custom made wrought iron should be matched to the existing architectural features of the building no matter whether it’s a piece of wrought iron furniture indoors or a wrought iron fence. It’s important to be sympathetic to the architectural style of your home. Unfortunately many renovators with older style homes in the inner Adelaide regions such as North Adelaide, Norwood, Unley, St Peters, Port Adelaide and Thebarton installed ready made ‘faux’ wrought iron (pool fencing with spears) and cast iron fences & gates. These types of gates and fencing rarely meld well with the existing architecture. Federation and Art Deco homes, especially the simpler homes, had timber, mini-orb or wire fences, with the original owners investing in a ‘pretty’ hand forged gate – usually made by the local blacksmith. The beauty of wrought iron is that designs are tailored to suit particular periods, e.g. art nouveau, Victorian, Art Deco, modern and when done well is hard to distinguish whether the wrought iron piece, such as a gate, is authentic or not. This is the mark of a good addition or renovation. Even when modernising your home, certain ‘heritage’ features can be picked out and incorporated into the wrought iron piece.
Although the front garden was modernised, the art deco design from the stained glass window of this home was mirrored in the design of the gate
[quote]If you’re looking for a well made, authentic piece of wrought iron give Farmweld a call on 8568 5433. Visits to the workshop are by appointment Monday to Friday 8-4pm.[/quote]
All Farmweld wrought iron products are custom made for each customer. Unique wrought iron pieces are made to your own design or we can design something for you. Wrought iron designs include those for:
Interstate enquiries and commissions are welcome. Farmweld regularly delivers to customers all around Australia.
Amongst the new products released at the Stirling Autumn Garden Festival was a beautiful French Provincial inspired wrought iron outdoor dining setting. When creating new pieces the brief is that not only should the item stand the test of time – as everything we make must, but
We spent ages searching in person and on the web for someone who could produce a quality wrought iron gate in a traditional style at a fair price. We weren’t interested in cheap and shoddy but by the same token we also weren’t prepared to pay for underwriting someone’s over-expensive website, either. I liked the look and feel of Farmweld’s website straight away, because you could tell these were people who were passionate about what they were doing and
The gates Farmweld designed and constructed for us are beautiful. Everyone who visits comments on their beauty and old world charm. They’ll look even lovelier once the roses grow up the other side. The attention to detail in the construction of the gates contributes to this old world charm.
We were highly impressed with the design service. Everything was possible. Nothing was a bother. We found Farmweld to be highly professional and we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them.
Please find attached a picture of the gate that you made for us, we are both very happy with the end result, it really complements the picket fence.
We have had a lot of people comment on how nice it looks. Thankyou for your help and professional service.
What do you do when you need a formal entrance to a property with Australian Colonial architecture but it needs to work with French Provincial interior decorating … go wrought iron of course. The wrought iron entrance gate to this NSW property was made keeping in mind both styles and the owner couldn’t be happier.
The Brief: The house on this property was built in 1898 but it has been renovated with a French Provincial interior. The house is