Wrought iron has been used as a decorative element in architecture from the eleventh century to the twentieth. At first a device to strengthen and embellish doors, wrought iron was soon adopted for free-standing screens and railings, examples of which can still be seen in churches and cathedrals.

Wrought iron has been used as a decorative element in architecture since the eleventh century. Initially used to strengthen and embellish doors, the material was soon adopted for free-standing screens and railings in churches and cathedrals. Towards the end of the seventeenth century iron screens, gates and railings became a fashionable element of country and town houses, resulting in the most creative period of decorative ironwork. Though the cheaper technique of casting led to a subsequent decline in wrought iron, the latter underwent a revival at the end of the nineteenth century, encouraged by its use in the designs of influential architects such as William Burges and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. This book provides an introductory guide to decorative wrought iron, describing how it was made, its context in architectural history and where fine examples remain extant today.