Projects
The BBC at Avebury Manor
Penelope Keith and Paul Martin, presenters of The Manor Reborn
© BBC
Avebury Manor has been home to many families since its creation in the 1500s. Located on the edge of the largest stone circle in the world and on the site of a former priory, this is a house with a fascinating past.
The Manor Reborn, presented by Penelope Keith and Paul Martin, is a 4 part landmark BBC One series which follows a lively team of historians, designers and volunteers as they refurbish the 500 year old Manor.
The finished rooms evoke the personalities of the families that lived there and the atmosphere of the eras in which they lived.
Find out more
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People of Avebury Manor
Find out more about some of the influential people who lived in Avebury Manor over the last 500 years,...
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Uncovering history at Avebury Manor
Discovering the true history of Avebury Manor took a team of experts and a delve into the interior...
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Avebury Manor's Victorian kitchen garden
Thanks to a dedicated and enthusiastic team of volunteers, the Victorian kitchen garden has been brought...
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Craftspeople behind Avebury Manor's transformation
Something in the Manor caught your eye? Accompanied by photos of the rooms, we provide a list of the...
Avebury Manor Tudor bedroom
© NT/Usha Gupta
Transforming the Manor
The series looks at Avebury Manor from the reign of Elizabeth I through to the eve of the Second World War, exploring a wide range of craft and furniture-making skills spanning five different eras - Tudor (1560s and 1590s), Queen Anne (1702/3), Georgian (1798), Victorian (1837-1901) and early 20th century.
A team of historians, experts, and volunteers has been giving the house a unique makeover on camera. Architectural writer and expert Dan Cruickshank; Anna Whitelock, lecturer in early modern history at the University of London Royal Holloway; leading interior designer Russell Sage and expert gardener David Howard have joined forces with volunteers, craftsmen, apprentices, and specialist companies to bring the old house back to life.
Furniture and objects have been recreated or restored by modern craftsmen – with the added challenge of having to be able to withstand the rigours of life as a National Trust house open to the public.
Along with the house, a redundant kitchen garden has been transformed into a working Victorian kitchen garden, from which produce will be used in our café.
A book to accompany the series, 'The Manor Reborn - the transformation of Avebury Manor' by Siân Evans is published by arrangement with the BBC and National Trust. It's available now at our on site shop.
Read more about transforming the Manor.