Building works
The National Trust Building Department provides a professional and practical service to the Region, covering all aspects of building, conservation and repair, having regard to the historic importance, contents and environmental impact of the buildings. This is achieved through a programme of regular inspection, preventative maintenance and periodic repair of all buildings in the Region, carried out by our own staff or contractors.

Conservation of the contents
Caring for the collections in National Trust houses centres around reducing the rate that the furniture, textiles, paintings and other contents deteriorate. The aim is to prevent, or at least put off, the day when an object needs conservation, restoration or repair. This important work includes:

• Careful handling of fragile objects
• the use of correct cleaning materials and techniques
• limiting the damaging effects of light, ultra violet radiation, and unsuitable humidity levels
• finely balancing the needs of today’s visitors, with our long term preservation aim of allowing future generations to enjoy our historic houses.

During the summer open season house staff concentrate on welcoming visitors to the houses, and ensuring, through routine cleaning, that the houses can be appreciated at their best. Each autumn a programme of intensive cleaning, monitoring of conditions, and inventory checking takes place at each property.

There is a huge variety of furniture and objects to be inspected. Not everything is cleaned every year as cleaning can cause damage to very fragile surfaces such as tapestries. Metalwork is polished, ceramics are cleaned and books are checked. All the furniture is covered with specially made cotton dust covers, a traditional idea. Small objects have tissue paper hats to protect them from dust. The rooms are meticulously cleaned from ceiling to floor; working from tower scaffold means you need a good head for heights!

The idea of this level of care and protection is nothing new. In the days when the National Trust’s fine houses were family homes they would have often spent many months of the year under wraps. Even very grand households often lived quite modestly in a small part of the house for much of the year, saving the finest rooms for entertaining guests.

Materials and procedures are constantly being reviewed. Combining the best of traditional techniques with the latest scientific knowledge helps to ensure that today’s historic contents can be enjoyed by future generations.