Day to day care
Each morning before Knole opens, Knole's house and collection team are busy dusting, cleaning and taking care of the furniture, paintings and tapestries. They also carry out a deep clean when the showrooms are closed over the winter when every item – from the stunning silverware in the King’s Bedroom to the intricate carved picture frames in the Cartoon Gallery – is methodically cleaned and its condition recorded.
Winter hibernation
Every winter we put Knole’s showrooms to bed, to protect the fragile collection from the harsh weather and so that the conservation team can undertake a thorough clean.
When the last visitor leaves the showrooms in the fading afternoon light in early November, the entrance to Screen’s Passage in Stone Court officially closes its doors for winter.
Within hours the showrooms will hum with a new kind of activity – preparation for the annual winter clean. Scaffolding is erected, trestle tables are put up and hundreds of white dust cloths are brought out of hibernation to protect Knole’s treasures, until the showrooms reopen the following March.
It takes our conservation team four months to clean every item in the collection, record its condition and make sure the rooms are immaculate for the spring reopening. Despite the chilly temperatures inside the house, the winter clean is the highlight of the year for the team and a chance to really get close to the objects they care for.
Conservation week
Twice yearly we hold a conservation week, in the spring and autumn, where visitors can meet our team and watch them at work on areas of the house. Watch out for dates as they're scheduled nearer the time.
House and collection blog
Team members are passionate about what they do and keen to share their knowledge – find out more about some of their favourite projects in the blog.
