Issue 38 Summer web 23 - Flipbook - Page 16
Cliveden Conservation
features in new BBC
heritage series
A new BBC Two and BBC iPlayer series, ‘Hidden Treasures of the National Trust’ features members
of the Cliveden Conservation team as it goes behind the velvet rope at the country’s most beautiful and
historic homes, meeting the people saving our priceless heritage.
in Northern Ireland where conservators reinstate the
unique storm damaged sculptures on the Dodo Terrace.
The six-part series which starts Friday 12th May (9pm
BBC Two and BBC iPlayer) follows the experts, including
conservators from Cliveden Conservation, at work as they
breathe new life into fragile marvels, uncover hidden
stories, and strive to keep the past alive.
Based in a different region each episode, the series looks
behind the scenes at the extraordinary work that is being
done to care for these properties and their contents for
future generations. Audiences meet volunteers and staff
who look after the properties and these objects, revealing
their passion, dedication and affection for the houses they
help to maintain.
Stories range from the restoration of an ornate
nineteenth-century Chinese-style bridge at Biddulph
Grange Garden, to discovering how the Trust has brought
Paul McCartney’s childhood home back to life, seeing
how the experts clean a model of a Normandy harbour
used by Winston Churchill in the planning of D-Day and
the renovation of Vita Sackville-West’s writing room at
Sissinghurst Castle. The series also showcases stories of
the gardens and landscapes within which these properties
sit.
Tom Flemons, Director and conservator, Cliveden
Conservation, who was filmed as part of the series, looks
forward to seeing Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
broadcast:
“Working with the film makers added a new dimension
to our projects. It allowed us to step back and appreciate
what a privilege it is to be involved with The National
Trust’s treasures, caring for the collection, and preparing
it for the future.”
The Cliveden Conservation team appear in four of
the six episodes demonstrating the skills and techniques
used to preserve hidden treasures. Conservation and
replication of marble antiquities from Biddulph Grange
Garden in Staffordshire are prepared as part of the
restoration of the geological gallery. At Ightham Mote in
Kent a condition survey and repairs are carried out to the
masonry of a historic Venetian window.
Above, Conservator, Kris Zykubek at work on the terracotta pot from
Sissinghurst Gardens. Below, house Manager, Eleanor Black and
Building Surveyor James Kenton outside the tower at Sissinghurst Castle.
Sissinghurst Castle Garden also in Kent, sees Cliveden
Conservation restore the decorative plaster in Vita
Sackville-West's Writing Room and undertake specialist
conservation treatment to repair a terracotta pot which
is then later reinstalled. Then it’s over to Mount Stewart
Conservation & Heritage Journal
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