Looking After

We will care for places for a sustainable future.

I’m proud of the Trust’s conservation work over the past year. Some of my favourite large-scale projects have included the work to restore and reopen many of the rooms at Dyrham Park in South Gloucestershire, and the conservation of the last of the great Gideon tapestries from Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. But we’ve also spent more than ever before on what we call ‘little and often’ – the everyday maintenance and repair that keeps gardens, houses and collections in great condition for everyone to enjoy.

John Orna-Ornstein, Director of Culture and Engagement

We provide a high standard of care for the collections, interiors, gardens and houses we look after. Much of what we do is ‘little and often’ conservation, both preventive and restorative, to make sure that everyone can get to know the places and objects we look after, now and into the future.

We are adapting our buildings and landscapes for climate resilience, using our hazard mapping tool to identify the places most at risk.

Our performance

We previously used the Conservation Performance Indicator (CPI) process to assess the condition of assets that we care for. CPI has served us well in terms of bringing teams together to talk about conservation but focused too heavily on subjective scoring and not enough on longer-term thinking.

We are addressing this imbalance through the implementation of our Conservation Management Review (CMR) process. This will make conservation management planning and decision-making easier and allow more effective performance measures to be in place from 2024–25.

How we are preserving assets

Clandon Park, Surrey

Work has begun on the house at Clandon Park following the major fire in 2015. Our vision involves restoring the exterior of the house, whilst bringing the interiors back to life in a curated version of their new, post-fire state. The project will reveal much about the design and making of early 18th-century country houses. Trial brick and stonework repairs were undertaken to inform a major programme of masonry conservation. The house and gardens opened to visitors over the spring and summer and hosted a programme of meetings with local and national stakeholders.

Dyrham Park Rework’d, Gloucestershire

We have created an engaging and meaningful journey into the 17th century thanks to a huge project to revitalise, restore and reimagine this Baroque house and its grounds.

Work has included re-graining of the Great Hall, giving a luxurious look to the original woodwork, the re-hanging of two Georgian chandeliers and all-weather paths installed on historic routes.

Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio, Knole, Kent

Melchior De Hondecoeter, Turkey, Geese, Shelduck, and other Fowl, in a Landscape with a Stream (1656–95), Dyrham Park
Although this painting was structurally in good condition, layers of varnish applied over time to protect it, had yellowed its surface and blurred details where it had saturated the colour. It was cleaned, bringing it back to life before it was rehung.

Painted Leather Screen, The Vyne, Hampshire

Restoration took place on a six-leaf, folding gilt-leather screen, painted with landscapes and figures in the manner of French artist Watteau.

Listed in the 1754 inventory of The Vyne, the screen was in poor condition with multiple splits in the leather. Visitors to the studio could watch the work taking place. It is now back at The Vyne on show in the Oak Gallery.

This year, we upgraded and modified our studio. For the first time we can offer in-house conservation of paintings and picture frames. This work will help it to become a world-class centre in its field.

Textile Conservation Studio, Blickling, Norfolk

Erddig State Bed, Wrexham
We put textiles from the 1720 Erddig State Bed on display in a temporary exhibition, following the completion of eight years (over one thousand hours) of major treatment carried out at our Textile Conservation Studio. It has been over 45 years since people have been able to see these fine examples of early 18th-century Chinese embroidery.

Sleeping chairs at Ham House, Richmond

The Textile and Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studios worked together to preserve Ham’s two ‘sleeping chairs’. These were designed for Charles II’s wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza, who visited Ham House in 1674. This work will lead to the chairs being on public display as a pair for the first time since the National Trust took Ham House into its care in 1948.

How we are investing in historic designed

landscapes

We have undertaken an ambitious plan to invest in both gardens and gardeners. This year, we:

helped 19 gardens recover from the damage caused by Storm Arwen;
organised our first large-scale study week focusing on one genus: the narcissus. Over 140 gardeners learnt about propagation, identification, history, cultivation, making herbarium specimens and showmanship. Teams from 70 gardens were able to identify over 300 varieties that hadn’t previously been recognised; and
established over 90 garden projects that will help improve standards and demonstrate best practice and climate-resilient horticulture.

Restoring Bridgeman’s landscape at Lodge Park, Sherborne Park Estate, Gloucestershire

Charles Bridgeman (1690–1738) was an important gardener in the 18th century. He was appointed Royal Gardener to George II and designed the Serpentine in Hyde Park. He designed the landscape at Lodge Park, which was considered revolutionary in its day, but much of it has been lost.

Thanks to detailed surveying and mapping of the site, and analysing archival sources including early aerial photographs, we were able to redraw Charles Bridgeman’s design onto a plan of the park, giving an accurate template for its restoration.

14,000 elms were planted as part of Bridgeman’s plans, but these have been lost to disease. We have started restoration work by planting lime and disease-resistant elms, which can be found along walking routes.

In the wood we’ve planted blocks of mixed saplings, the different species supporting a variety of pollinators and invertebrates which will boost local biodiversity.

Excavation of the roundhouse at Dinas Dinlle hillfort, Gwynedd

In partnership with the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust and community volunteers, we completed a third season of excavation at Dinas Dinlle hillfort and took action to strengthen the Iron Age roundhouse. This was funded by the Trust’s Neptune Coastline Campaign, a Cadw grant and the CHERISH project.²

2 CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands, and Headlands) is a 6-year European-funded Ireland-Wales project.

I’ve gone from being an occupational therapist to an amateur archaeologist!

Louise Ingham, Volunteer

Over time this site will be lost through coastal erosion but for now, new interpretation is being created to help people better explore and understand its history.

Looking forward

We will continue supporting the professional development of our curators by providing access to research grants, online masterclasses, curatorial retreats and training opportunities.

We will launch a new era of research and investigation with learning events to help our gardening teams enrich our gardens and parklands.