Cliveden features in BBC heritage series
The iconic Cliveden Estate in Taplow and the team that protects it will be starring in a new BBC heritage series.
Members of the Cliveden Conservation team featured in a weekly documentary series that premiered on BBC Two last Friday (May 12).
The documentary ‘Hidden Treasures of the National Trust’ meets the people striving to save priceless heritage in historic homes around the UK.
Tom Flemons, the director and conservator at Cliveden Conservation, who was filmed as part of the series, said: “Working with the filmmakers 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 six-part series follows the experts, including conservators from Cliveden Conservation, at work restoring fragile marvels and uncovering hidden stories.
Stories range from the restoration of an ornate nineteenth-century Chinese-style bridge at Biddulph Grange Garden, to how the National Trust has brought Paul McCartney’s childhood home back to life.
Viewers will also see how 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.
Each episode is based in a different region and the series looks behind the scenes at the work being done to care for the properties and their contents for future generations.
The Cliveden Conservation team will appear in four of the six episodes, demonstrating the skills and techniques used to preserve hidden treasures.
This includes the conservation and replication of marble antiquities from Biddulph Grange Garden in Staffordshire as part of the restoration of the geological gallery.
Cliveden Conservation restores the decorative plaster in Vita Sackville-West's Writing Room in Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, and undertakes specialist conservation treatment to repair a terracotta pot which is later reinstalled.
At Ightham Mote, also in Kent, a condition survey and repairs are carried out to the masonry of a historic Venetian window.
Finally, in Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland, conservators will reinstate the unique storm damaged sculptures on the Dodo Terrace.
The series will showcase stories of the gardens and landscapes within which these properties sit, and the audience will be introduced to the volunteers and staff who look after the properties and objects.
The show is broadcast at 9pm on Fridays on BBC Two and the first episode is available on BBC iPlayer.