Repairing original locks rather than replacing them with something that does not belong.
South East London has a great deal of period housing, and a surprising amount of it still runs on its original locks. Victorian rim locks, cast iron mortice locks, brass box locks and early lever mechanisms are often perfectly serviceable after a century or more — they simply need cleaning, easing, a new key or a worn part making up.
The default from most locksmiths is to remove the original and fit something modern. On a period door in Dulwich Village, Chislehurst or Bickley that is usually the wrong answer: it damages the door, it looks wrong, and in a conservation area it can breach the terms of your lease.
Most period locks that appear broken are not. A century of paint, dust and dried oil is usually enough to stop a lever mechanism turning, and a proper strip and clean brings it back. Where a part has genuinely worn out, a replacement can often be made up or sourced rather than the whole lock being scrapped.
Where a period lock cannot meet modern insurance requirements — and many cannot — the answer is rarely to throw it out. We commonly leave the original in place and working, and add a discreet BS3621 mortice lock or a concealed additional bolt elsewhere on the door. The insurer is satisfied, the door keeps its character, and nothing original is lost.
If a lock is beyond saving we will say so plainly rather than charging for hours of work that will not succeed. We would rather tell you that at the start than at the end.
This work is common for us across Dulwich Village, West Dulwich, Chislehurst, Bickley, Shortlands, Sundridge Park and the conservation areas around Bromley.
