Calke Abbey is a vivid example of a great house in decline, with extraordinary contents and interiors little changed since the 1880s. When Calke passed to the National Trust in 1985 it presented the opportunity to tell the real story behind the decline of a country house estate in the 20th century.

Calke is famed for its unpolished look – 'the Calke Shabby effect', as Jenny Fahy, Assistant Housekeeper at Calke, puts it. Jenny has worked at Calke Abbey for five years with a team of four housekeepers, all skilled at preserving Calke’s unique look. 'All the team know not to over-clean,' she says. This is far trickier than it sounds, but years of experience have taught these dedicated workers just how little elbow grease to use!

Preparing Calke Abbey for winter – like all National Trust properties – has to be carefully planned around any building works or conservation projects going on. Two weeks before the house closes at the end of the season, Jenny and her colleagues draw up a plan and work out a logical ‘room by room’ route.

'But things never go according to plan!' Jenny laughs. 'There are always challenges along the way, like the year we were having the underground Elizabethan drains replaced and discovered a load of skeletons! We had to bring in an archaeologist to assess the site, and he confirmed that it was an old burial ground – Calke is situated on the site of a former priory. It was fascinating to see the skeletons as they were all positioned to reflect their hierarchy. They were left undisturbed and the new drains were installed along a different route!'

Jenny continues:

Calke has an extensive taxidermy collection, including a large number of wall-mounted hunting trophies. As Jenny says, 'The deer heads are a really key feature of Calke, so we have to make sure they’re kept in good condition – we brush them down in situ using soft natural hair brushes and vacuum cleaners. We have to be careful and wear rubber gloves and masks for cleaning the taxidermy because it’s preserved with an arsenic solution!'

'Calke’s other taxidermy displays are all enclosed in glass cases, so don’t generally need cleaning – unless we notice any pest infestation! As soon as we see any signs of this, we call in a conservator who freezes the animal to kill off any bugs. All taxidermy is preserved using toxic chemicals, so this always requires professional handling.'

All furnishings are then cleaned before being returned to the rooms, where they are carefully covered. To help preserve their colours, all fabrics and pictures are initially covered in acid-free tissue – this is made from bleached wood pulp and is approved by the British Museum Conservation Research Laboratory. It’s designed for a wide range of museum and archive storage requirements, so it’s the perfect thing to use during Calke’s hibernation.

'All ornaments and ceramics are collected together and carefully brushed clean using soft pony hair brushes and vacuum cleaners. The staff go into ‘Blue Peter’ mode then and make little paper hats out of acid-free tissue for each and every piece! The only areas of Calke Abbey treated to a coat of wax are the floorboards and banisters in public areas. Occasionally, if a piece of furniture is looking particularly dry, we will apply a little wax and a protective top wax.'

Jenny is obviously a devoted housekeeper and loves her job at Calke Abbey. 'It’s wonderful to be so appreciated by our visitors. I love the Housekeeper Exhibitions that we host here, where we can share our ‘behind the scenes’ life. I couldn’t think of working anywhere else!'