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Treasures of the National Trust S04E04
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00:02Every year, millions of us flock to the houses and gardens of the National Trust.
00:09Taking a step back in time to delve into our history.
00:14When you see something forgotten for thousands of years, that's quite amazing.
00:19Whether in the grandest residence...
00:21This is the kind of room you walk into and you sort of go, oh my goodness.
00:25Or on a windswept island...
00:28Big moment for this little guy.
00:30That's what you want to see.
00:32But out of sight is a hidden world.
00:35Very few people, this whole world can go behind the scenes and you're one of them.
00:40Where an army of dedicated experts...
00:42I have never seen anything like this, it's absolutely bonkers.
00:46...are battling to save treasured objects.
00:49I've not yet smashed anything. Don't say that.
00:52Am I going to have to be here all day like this?
00:54Meow.
00:55Wow.
00:56Making new discoveries...
00:58How exciting. Look at that.
01:00Oh my goodness.
01:02...that tell the history of us all.
01:05These objects still speak if you listen hard enough.
01:15This time, the homes of two eclectic collectors.
01:20The more money you have, the more you can do absolutely anything.
01:24And you are limited only by your imagination.
01:28It's just bonkers, isn't it? But beautiful as well.
01:31With unexpected discoveries.
01:34Oh, and I've got a body.
01:35And long forgotten objects shining once again.
01:40There's such a wow factor, isn't there? They just dazzle and leap out.
01:55I never get tired of the commute to work.
01:59At the heart of a quiet Cotswold village sits what looks like the quintessential English manor house.
02:08Snow's hill.
02:12Eventually I'll find him right here. Come on in.
02:17I literally have nightmares about him all the time.
02:21Terrified of losing a bunch.
02:24Inside, collections and house manager Jennifer looks after over 22,000 curiosities
02:31in one of the National Trust's most eccentric collections.
02:36I can't remember where I've put the keys.
02:38See? Keys!
02:42I just remember walking in and thinking, I've never seen anything like this before.
02:49It was so different to every other National Trust house I'd ever been to.
02:55But it had this real magic to it.
02:58From ageing anatomy to buckets, bicycles and battle-scarred blades,
03:04these objects were all brought together by one man.
03:09So you'll see a lot of boats, sextants, all sorts of things.
03:13But then you'll also get a pocket planetarium and a flying fish.
03:20That's quite fun.
03:22It's just bonkers, isn't it? But beautiful as well.
03:26Welcome to the wonderful world of Charles Padgett Wade.
03:33Born in Kent in 1883,
03:37Charles Wade wasn't your average Victorian collector.
03:41He liked to wear his incredibly extensive costume collection.
03:47He could be seen in a huge pair of boots up to his thighs.
03:52He could be seen in kind of naval outfits.
03:55And Wade wasn't shy about showing off his pieces in public.
04:00There's a fantastic story of him being arrested in London
04:05for wearing a suit of armour,
04:07because rather than carry it, why not wear it?
04:10He would jump out at people from hidden doors that he'd put in.
04:15It was just fun.
04:16I think that's a great way to think of Charles Wade,
04:18as someone who loved fun.
04:22As his collection grew, so did his need for storage space.
04:26And in 1919, he bought the sizeable Snow's Hill manor.
04:32He really had a passion for preserving items
04:37that were fast disappearing due to increased mechanisation.
04:41He collected things that other people didn't find interesting
04:45and certainly weren't fashionable.
04:46But because of his enthusiasm, it means we have at Snow's Hill
04:51treasures that aren't preserved anywhere else.
04:57There's an ever-ending problem in this house
05:00of trying to fit everything in.
05:02When it was first given over to the National Trust,
05:05it was actually more packed than it is now.
05:09Today, collections assistant Natalie is turning her attention
05:14to one of Snow's Hill's most intriguing rooms.
05:18Welcome to Samurai Room.
05:21It's a very atmospheric room
05:23and people absolutely love it when they come in here.
05:25You can see why.
05:28The story is Charles Wade went to get a washer
05:31from a tap down in Cheltenham
05:33and as he went into the stall,
05:34he saw a full suit of armour
05:36and absolutely loved it.
05:38And the owner said,
05:40well, if you like this, I've got six more out the back.
05:42He said, my wife doesn't let me have them in the house
05:44because she doesn't like them.
05:45So there are seven suits of armour he come home with that day.
05:49In his collection,
05:51he has roughly about 30 sets of armour,
05:54some more complete than others.
05:57Keeping this army of ancient warriors in peak condition,
06:01week in and week out,
06:03Natalie is now on first-name terms.
06:06So today I'm going to clean Gary and his mate Barry behind.
06:11They've all been given names recently
06:13to make them more easily identifiable.
06:16Every suit of armour is formed of scores of individual pieces,
06:21made from a variety of materials,
06:24each with its own conservation needs.
06:28So we've just moved down to here, the dough.
06:31Sorry if I butchered how to pronounce it.
06:35Oh, wrong brush.
06:36So we're going to go for the metal,
06:37and then we're just going to clean along.
06:41My favourite part are the swords.
06:43I've loved swords sometimes since I was probably about 17, 18,
06:48whilst then at school.
06:50When I first went into the house, I was like,
06:52oh, my God, he's just like me.
06:54Just because the sheer amount of stuff he likes to collect.
06:57And so I just totally got the house.
07:00So I'm just going to clean the Oni.
07:02They are little demons.
07:05You can just imagine these little demons with crazy wild hair causing mischief.
07:10That's what we like about him.
07:14But one of their demons is missing.
07:18Together with another full suit of armour,
07:21it's heading to the National Trust's Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio
07:26in Sevenoaks, Kent.
07:30Just trying to keep it flat-ish.
07:34Checking that this unique treasure has arrived safely
07:37is studio lead, Emma.
07:41Oh, this is really decorative.
07:43It's beautiful.
07:45What makes this suit of armour even more special is its size.
07:49So this is a boy's samurai armour.
07:52It dates from the early to mid 18th century.
07:57It's from the Edo period, which is a time of peace, really.
08:01So the armour's become incredibly decorative like this piece here.
08:06Boy's samurai armour is so rare
08:09that this piece has been picked to be part of a groundbreaking exhibition at the British Museum.
08:16It's so exciting to think that a small part of Snow's Hill will be represented in this way
08:21because it is so important.
08:28Nearly 300 years old, this armour is made up of dozens of hand-crafted pieces,
08:35which must all be in the best condition for the upcoming exhibition.
08:40So this is the breastplate known as a doe.
08:43It's got this gorgeous dragon on the front.
08:45It's incredibly small.
08:47I'm trying to think what sort of aged child this would fit.
08:50A four-year-old, maybe?
08:53This would have been part of, like, a ceremonial parade.
08:56Highly decorative, obviously a sign of wealth and importance.
09:02Beginning in 1603 and lasting over 250 years, the Edo period was a time of stability in Japan.
09:12With no wars to fight, the samurai class focused on governance, philosophy and the arts.
09:19But samurai families often had to pledge their allegiance to their tokugawa rulers,
09:26parading in full armour to the capital Edo, known today as Tokyo.
09:33Well, this is actually quite heavy, considering it's for a boy's armour
09:37and it's actually really difficult to manipulate
09:39because you have all these really weakened laces and it's really dirty.
09:46And there's quite a lot of work to do on this.
09:49So you can see all of the lacing is incredibly light damaged and really vulnerable.
09:54You can see this piece here literally wants to fall off.
09:58It's just held on by a few strands.
10:02So much work is needed, this armour requires its own army of specialists.
10:10First off, Conservator Felicity has the gilded shoulder pads in her sights.
10:23This area here is about to fall off.
10:26This section here is the sewed, which is the shoulder guard.
10:32The main structure is composed of iron.
10:36And then they've adhered what I think is deerskin to the actual plates
10:43and then the gold leaf on top.
10:45Unfortunately, over time, it has actually been eaten by pests
10:50and they were really interested in the leather underneath rather than the gold.
10:57These voracious invaders have left much of the leather work ready to surrender.
11:03Felicity must ensure it's strong enough for one last stand.
11:10There's a fair amount of work to do in about three weeks.
11:13It is tighter than normal.
11:16I hope I can meet the target.
11:18Otherwise it won't be on display.
11:27The National Trust cares for more than one million objects
11:31at over 200 historic houses,
11:34giving their teams a unique insight into the minds
11:38of some of our nation's most committed collectors.
11:42Collecting is something that we all have to a certain degree a desire to do.
11:46It's a way of putting order to things that you do collect.
11:51And I think that's where the control comes from.
11:53You want the rare object.
11:55You want the specimen that tells an intriguing story.
11:59It's about bringing together something that's bigger than the individual parts.
12:04It's also a way of expressing your world
12:07and being proud of the fact that it's different from everyone else's world.
12:11I think there's something for every collector and every collector's budget.
12:17While many collectors spend their wealth on exquisite man-made objects,
12:2360 miles from Snows Hill Manor, generations of one family
12:27spent a fortune bringing a sense of order to the natural world.
12:32At Derbyshire's Calk Abbey.
12:43From the minute you come through the gates, it's got that sense of discovery, that sense of mystery, that sense
12:49of curiosity.
12:51Set in over 2,000 acres of rolling countryside, Calk Abbey is filled with an abundance of flora and fauna.
13:03We have geology, we have shells, we have a herbaria, we have taxidermy, we have bird's eggs.
13:11Pretty much anything you could think of, there's probably a specimen or example of it here.
13:19But the collection isn't the only remarkable thing about this 58-room baroque mansion.
13:36We call ourselves the Unstately Home because we have a large suite of rooms which are presented
13:43kind of in line with how they were found in the 1980s, which was a time when Cork was on
13:48the precipice of loss.
13:49So as you can see, it's quite dishevelled.
13:53Our decline aesthetic very much has things like peeling wallpaper.
13:58The marks are still on the walls from when there were paintings in centuries past.
14:02The objects aren't restored, they're not re-gilded, they're not shiny and new.
14:06They very much retain that element of the past.
14:13As property curator, Julie has to try and perfectly preserve this snapshot in time.
14:21Unfortunately, I'm really small, so it's really hard to open these shutters.
14:25It's a good workout to start the day.
14:27We are essentially a kind of testament to all of those country houses that were lost, demolished in the 20th
14:34century.
14:35There were hundreds being lost.
14:38That's a really important story to tell, both in the history of Cork but also in the history of country
14:43houses.
14:44People have mixed reactions. Some people are shocked.
14:47It's not what they expect from a country house.
14:51By the 1980s, one family, the Harper Crews, had lived at Cork Abbey for nearly 400 years.
14:59But the huge cost of maintaining it meant that by the time the National Trust took the house on in
15:051985,
15:07much of it had fallen into disrepair.
15:11Cork is presented almost on the precipice of collapse.
15:15It's in this moment in which it was saved, but it still bears some of the scars.
15:22All evoke the very near loss of the house.
15:26Cork Abbey's glory days began in the 1700s, when Sir John Harper inherited the estate and redesigned the house.
15:36Then, in 1886, Sir John's Victorian descendant, Vauncy Harper Crew, inherited both Cork and his family's weakness for accumulating.
15:49We're in Vauncy's boyhood bedroom now.
15:52The room's presented, kind of showing how it was found in the 1980s.
15:58So you've got a jumble of objects on the bed.
16:00Because it is Vauncy's boyhood bedroom, they all relate to him and tell us things about him.
16:04So you've got deer antlers, you've got all of his rocks and shells.
16:07So you see the start of his interest in natural history collection right here in his bedroom.
16:17Sir Vauncy built on the collections begun by his forebears.
16:25Creating what is now the Trust's largest assembly of natural history specimens.
16:34His collection essentially overtook the house and Cork became this museum to natural history.
16:41There's no denying that Sir Vauncy spent a phenomenal amount of money on the natural history collection.
16:47Some purchases we have as more than a year's wage for one of the servants.
16:51So he, yeah, he was investing in that collection.
16:55And I'm sure a lot of the family fortune probably went into that collection.
17:02This is our bird lobby.
17:03This is an incredible room.
17:05Look at that dome.
17:06I've never seen a dome of that size before.
17:09Parts of the collection are over 160 years old and need specialist TLC.
17:18It's nice to see birds like this cased.
17:20I mean, they're obviously so big that you wouldn't usually see them in cases.
17:24And then you often don't see old examples of them because they deteriorate,
17:27because they're not cased.
17:30Taxidermist Sarah is getting one of Cork's feathered specimens ready for display.
17:41I'm just gonna try and neaten up this bird a little bit so he is looking a little bit scruffy.
17:46So I'm just gonna go around the whole bird and take off a little bit of this surface dust.
17:50Most people when they find out that I'm a taxidermist are shocked.
17:53I don't think that I fit the stereotype.
17:56They probably think of a old man working alone in their shed.
17:59I do mostly work in a shed, to be fair.
18:02But I'm not an old man.
18:06Considering their age, these birds are actually an incredible condition.
18:09You can tell that Savornsey really cared about his specimens.
18:12He was very strict about having open fires in rooms and things like that.
18:16He didn't want to cause heat damage.
18:18He looked after them like a modern day natural science curator would.
18:22In avian taxidermy, feathers of a bird don't always stick together.
18:28The structure of the feathers, they have what's called barbs,
18:32and over time they become separated.
18:34So this eyeshadow brush is actually really useful just to stroke the feathers
18:39and they get the barbs to hook back to themselves and straighten out.
18:43When I speak to other taxidermists,
18:45they agree that they quite like the feathering process.
18:48Even though it's often the longest part of the process,
18:51it's quite therapeutic, but at the same time it can drive you a little bit crazy.
18:56We can spend forever just shuffling feathers around
18:59and making sure they're in the correct order.
19:02But the Harper crews weren't only interested in preserving dead wildlife.
19:10You could have picked a bit better weather.
19:12I mean, I'll talk to the weatherman next hour.
19:16In the grounds, a living conservation project
19:20has been producing results for over 250 years.
19:24The first time they're in the forest.
19:26Come on, girlies!
19:30COOLCABBY'S FLOCK OF RARE PORTLAND SHEEP
19:32are tended to by Ranger Emily and her team.
19:36Come on!
19:39I'm really fortunate that I get to live and work here.
19:43Most people, I don't think, would want to live where they work.
19:46You know?
19:47You're just like, oh God, you're always at work.
19:49But it's great.
19:50It's magical.
19:52So...
19:52Come on, girlies!
19:53Come on!
19:55There's no typical day as a Ranger.
19:57You can kind of start out with a plan and then something will happen
20:01and that will throw it all up in the air.
20:03And that's one of the things I actually love about it,
20:05the fact that you do have to react and think on your feet.
20:08By the mid-1970s, Portland sheep were almost extinct,
20:13with only 86 breeding ewes and three bloodlines left,
20:18one of which was corks.
20:20Out the corner!
20:21Out the corner!
20:22That's it!
20:24Today is the most important day of the year
20:27in keeping corks' flock flourishing.
20:30We are going to go in and put the tups in with the ewes,
20:34ready for us getting some lands next year.
20:36So tups are the rams.
20:38We'll be splitting the ewes into two flocks,
20:40which is basically where we just pick, like,
20:42our preferred Portland traits.
20:44Right out of the way!
20:45No, don't jump up there.
20:47Don't jump up there.
20:49Emily begins the process of judging which ewes have the X factor.
20:54This one's quite nice.
20:56She looks quite nice.
20:56She's a little dark in the face, but she's quite nice.
20:59For Portland, the breed standard is kind of tan face, tan legs,
21:04put palo around the eyes and the muzzle,
21:06not to have woolly legs.
21:08This ewes here, she's quite a nice example.
21:11She just walked through.
21:11She's got lovely little horns.
21:13Her legs are nice and clean.
21:16Come on!
21:18Off you go!
21:20Come on!
21:21For the hopeful rams, the judging criteria is just as tough.
21:27The things we're looking for are really nice horns, nice clean legs,
21:32nice tan faces, not too dark, bit of white around the eyes and the muzzle.
21:37I like the look of that one.
21:39The one in the middle?
21:40The one in the middle?
21:40The one with the parting down his back?
21:42Yeah, that's the one.
21:43Yeah.
21:44For the best lambs next spring, they need to pick the best rams today.
21:49We've got to get the right ram for our girls.
21:51We're not just throwing any old thing in.
21:53Like, he's got to be tip-top the, you know, creme de la creme of rams.
21:58My number one top this year is my big fella right here.
22:03He is... I love this ram.
22:04He's super friendly.
22:05He's the one that... I mean, look how friendly he is.
22:07Hello.
22:07If you look at his face, he's got a lovely pale muzzle.
22:10He's pale around the eyes.
22:12He's in absolutely excellent condition.
22:14I can't...
22:15He's a little bit chonky, needs the exercise, so we'll put him in.
22:19What do you think, Hayley?
22:20Good pick?
22:21Do you approve?
22:23Yeah, I think so.
22:25Hayley is our in-house sheepdog.
22:28She's 11.
22:30She absolutely loves the sheep.
22:32She's not the best sheepdog, I will say.
22:34But she is keen and she's, you know, she'll do her best for you.
22:38With Hayley's final seal of approval,
22:41this particularly horny ram is fitted with a rattle harness.
22:46This one through to here.
22:48So we've got a lovely coloured chalk.
22:50And that is the thing that hopefully, as they mount the ewe...
22:54Oh, it won't work on me.
22:55It should leave a nice red smear.
22:58We've got to go see some girls!
23:00Yeah!
23:03Emily's top tup is taken out to the ewes.
23:07Let me see the ladies.
23:09All the single ladies, all the single ladies.
23:12Time to shine.
23:15Go on.
23:16Pop off.
23:18That's the job done for the day, really.
23:20Yeah, now kind of the work is down to them.
23:23Hopefully in two weeks' time, everyone will have a lovely painted bum.
23:26Then we just wait until lambing.
23:29Now we'll stop being voyeurs and we'll leave them to it.
23:34All Emily can do now is hope that Mother Nature delivers some new arrivals in the spring.
23:51Welcome to Snowsill Manor Garden.
23:54We've got badgers, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, moles, voles, the occasional stoat.
24:01You get the occasional bit of vandalism from them.
24:04The worst vandal are the badgers.
24:07They do like to dig up a lawn every now and then.
24:11And they do like to leave you little presents in the flower beds, which is lovely.
24:16When Charles Wade bought Snowsill Manor in 1919, it came with 14 acres of land,
24:23which he transformed into a series of individually-themed gardens.
24:30Blooming dandelions.
24:32For the past ten years, they've been nurtured by gardener James.
24:39Hopefully, when our visitors join us in the garden,
24:43all they're seeing are the lovely flowers and the beautiful plants.
24:46The gardeners, on the other hand, of course, are looking for all the weeds.
24:49So we have a slightly different perspective from the view that the visitors do.
24:54Charles Wade also brought his own sense of perspective to the gardens.
25:03At the moment, we're in the extraordinary little model village
25:07that Charles Wade built.
25:12He built every little model from scratch, an absolute works of beauty.
25:16And I'm just doing a little bit of gardening around the place
25:19to try and keep it looking neat and tidy.
25:22This replica of Charles' creation was built by volunteers
25:26when the original became too delicate to keep outside.
25:30I absolutely love the model village.
25:33Don't tell the boss, but I often come in here and play when nobody's watching.
25:38Move things around a little bit, set up little tableaus.
25:41You know, I love it. I think it's got great character.
25:46Charles Wade had a keen interest in preserving examples of craft skills.
25:52But some of the most intriguing objects in his collection
25:55are those to which he turned his own hand.
26:03So this is Charles Wade's doorbell.
26:05So we know that Charles Wade made this because there's an inscription inside.
26:10So what we think is that there would have been some mechanism
26:14where somebody came to the door, maybe pulled a cord,
26:18and the little figures would move around, maybe doors open and close.
26:23And it also played music.
26:25So it would be fantastic to get that going again if at all possible.
26:30Wade's extravagant doorbell echoes a popular fashion for moving automata and cuckoo clocks.
26:37But his hasn't budged an inch in years.
26:42Jennifer has called in dynamic objects conservator Mike.
26:47Hello.
26:49Good to see you.
26:50Hoping he can bring Wade's one of a kind wonder back to life.
26:55And here it is.
26:56I think if you knew Charles Wade, you wouldn't be at all surprised
27:01that there would be something like this when you came to the door.
27:05Because he was so theatrical as a person.
27:09I think this is a gorgeous piece of automata, which is really what it is.
27:15It's made absolutely beautifully.
27:18And if we can do anything with it to make it work a bit better,
27:21then I think that'll be a good thing.
27:23Three, four, perfect.
27:29For a full diagnosis, Mike takes the defective diorama back to his workshop.
27:38This is a challenging piece of work because it's a one-off.
27:43There are no other bits and pieces like it anywhere else.
27:46And I don't know how it works.
27:49And really, I've got to try and find all this out before I can work out
27:53what I'm going to do to try and get it back to doing something more than it does now.
28:00To fix it, Mike will have to work out exactly what Wade was thinking.
28:07This canvas strip, which runs around these pulleys.
28:12So as the whole thing moves along, so these figures move along.
28:17But you see that angle?
28:20That is translating then to that shaft.
28:23And that shaft is going up at an angle into the turret.
28:27What I'm going to do now is to use my probe camera
28:32to have a look inside this turret to see if I can see what's going on.
28:42Oh, and I've got a body.
28:44Yeah, I've got a little body that's broken.
28:48And that might be what's wedged and causing that shaft to go over.
28:52So we've got to try and recover him or her.
28:56A lot of the time with conservation work, the work is relatively quick.
29:01It's deciding how you're going to do the work, and that's the time-consuming bit.
29:06Becoming a conservator, it's all my father's fault.
29:10Having been given Meccano as a child, I think.
29:12I just like automata and things that move.
29:16The idea of working in conservation is absolutely wonderful.
29:23There we are.
29:25Is that it?
29:28Oh, yes.
29:29That's good news.
29:32The little chap was causing us some problems.
29:35But Mike may not be out of the woods just yet.
29:39As this moves along, if you watch, here we are.
29:43The door is trying to close, and the door is closed.
29:46I think the problem is the timing between the door opening and closing mechanism
29:52and the figures that are running on the belt.
29:56But what we might have to think about is whether we can re-time the belt to the doors.
30:05If you have one clear fault, then you can usually mend it fairly quickly.
30:10But when you've got four or five faults, it takes you a lot longer to understand why it isn't doing
30:15what it should be doing.
30:19Built by Charles Wade's own hand, this doorbell is a curiosity within an already eclectic collection.
30:29He bought most of his 22,000 objects for which he needed money.
30:36The most common question asked is how did he get this money, how did he afford all this?
30:42Charles' collecting took off after he came into a substantial inheritance at the age of 28.
30:50Imagine if somebody said to you, you've won the lottery, what do you go and buy?
30:55The more money you have, the more you can do absolutely anything, and you are limited only by your imagination.
31:02But Charles' great fortune came at a human cost.
31:07All of the funds that enabled him to do that collecting came from the wealth of the sugar plantations that
31:14his family had inherited in St. Kitts.
31:18Charles Wade's ancestors lived on the island of St. Kitts, then a British colony in the Caribbean,
31:25and owned enslaved people who worked in their household.
31:29After the abolition of slavery, Charles' grandfather bought sugar plantations on the island, which brought the family great wealth.
31:39Charles would have been aware of this legacy of slavery, not least because he was of dual heritage himself.
31:47I think it's such a complex story for the Wades because the Wade family is of mixed heritage.
31:54So very front and centre, Charles would have very clearly known that he was a person of mixed heritage because
32:02he spent quite a lot of time with his Afro-Caribbean grandmother, Mary Wade.
32:07Charles Wade's grandmother, we don't know much about her background, but we can suppose that, you know, somewhere in his
32:17line of descent there would have been enslaved people.
32:21I don't know exactly what Charles Padgett Wade felt about his own entanglement in this kind of colonial wealth that
32:30funded his life fully.
32:32But I do know that once he became older, he's written reflecting on the abhorrence of the transatlantic slave trade
32:41and how horrific it is for people to be sold as property.
32:46I think up until that point he hadn't really grappled with the weight and the impact of the paradox of
32:54his own life.
33:02At the Trust's textile conservation studio in Norfolk,
33:08Conservator Terry now has just three weeks to fix the fragile fabrics on the boys' samurai armour before its starring
33:17role in a new British Museum exhibition.
33:20It's just so, so sweet.
33:23When you're used to seeing samurai armour and the big male suits of armour which are so much bigger, you
33:28know, it was quite a shock.
33:29I'd forgotten quite how small it is.
33:31Despite its small size, Terry has discovered some big problems.
33:36This is the chest plate, so it's called a cuirass or cuirass.
33:41The metal lacquered plates join the top part with these amazing silk braids.
33:47Unfortunately, we've got quite a big area of loss in the middle.
33:50So the risk with this is the weight of the plates pulling down on those vulnerable silk braids that the
33:58parts separate.
33:59So it's really important that this particular area of the silk braids is stabilised so that it can go on
34:05display.
34:06It's the first time I've worked on a suit of samurai on and it's quite a daunting prospect but also
34:12incredibly exciting and I feel very lucky as they don't come along very often.
34:19As you can see here, I've already inserted a dyed piece of silk and then the idea is that that
34:26creates a kind of support behind the braid.
34:31As a natural protein fibre, silk of this age can be extremely fragile.
34:37So Terry is giving this part of the armour another almost invisible layer of protection.
34:43This is a piece of net which will just further stabilise and anchor down all of those broken ends.
34:50To hand stitch silk this delicate, Terry has a trick up her sleeve.
34:56So I'm using insect pins to pin this net in place.
35:02They're so fine that they prevent any further damage to the original textile because they don't pierce such big holes
35:08like normal dressmaking pins do.
35:10I think the thing that's so special about samurai is the craftsmanship and the beauty and the detail and the
35:19skill.
35:19It's so beautifully constructed and put together.
35:24So I'm happy now with how the net is positioned.
35:28It's all aligned and I think all the braid underneath is where I want it so I can start the
35:33stitching part.
35:38It's very fiddly but we're used to that in this profession.
35:43I do wonder how a child have worn something so heavy and uncomfortable.
35:49When I think about my little brothers when they were younger potentially wearing something like this.
35:56I think they would have really relished it because it's like a battle armour and they're fighting.
36:03They loved anything to do with guns and fighting.
36:09I think that we're nearly there.
36:12The net's in place and the stitches are holding it all together.
36:16I'm quite happy with that.
36:19With that now done and stabilised you feel a bit like oh I can breathe a little bit now.
36:25Though Terry has won this round.
36:28There's still a long way to go before the armour is ready to be presented at the British Museum.
36:35We've got about three working weeks left on the project to get everything done.
36:40I'm hoping it will be fine.
36:41We cannot fail. It has to be there. It has to be part of this exhibition.
36:54At Cork Abbey, many of the birds on display are trophies from Sir Valcie Harper Crew's regular hunting trips.
37:01Today, attitudes have changed towards Victorian collecting practices and part of the estate is now a nature reserve.
37:12Come on boys!
37:14Providing a slightly safer habitat for its many rare species.
37:21And for those who don't have an appetite for the great outdoors, there's plenty to savour inside.
37:31That's the benefit of the job, the sweet things.
37:34Ellie has worked at Cork's Cafe for over two years.
37:39When I was younger, my dad used to always take us to National Trust places.
37:43But coming back when I had my interview here and seeing it as an adult and not a child, it
37:48felt like surreal, different, as everything was a lot more my size.
37:53It's so lovely though, like, when you're driving through and you've got all the landscape, you've got the sheep laying,
37:59even though they do like to run in the middle of the road and get me being late.
38:02There's been times where I've had to get out of the car and been like, go, go, go, because they're
38:06just looking at me in the car like...
38:09But more of a bother for Ellie are the animals inside the house.
38:14When I first saw the taxidermy, I was like, that's a lot. I mean, how many dead animals do you
38:19need?
38:20I was quickly in and out of that room, let's just say.
38:24While Cork Abbey's taxidermy collection may not be everyone's cup of tea...
38:30So you know the saying, there's more than one way to skin a cat. That's very prevalent in taxidermy, I
38:34would say.
38:35So you leave some bones attached then, do you?
38:37Yeah.
38:37Many of the house's 100,000 visitors a year are fascinated by it.
38:43I've taken the skin off of the carcass, I've washed it, I've preserved it and now it's ready for me
38:49to put together again.
38:51Today, taxidermist Sarah is demonstrating her skills for visitors using an ethically sourced blackbird.
39:00If anyone has any questions, just fire away.
39:04So was that like a real bird, you just took the body out of it?
39:08That's exactly right, yeah. So it is a real bird.
39:11People will find a deceased animal maybe by the road or that's flown into a window or that their cat's
39:16killed and then they'll bring it to my workshop usually.
39:20It's interesting because I actually find most of the time children are instantly fascinated.
39:25It's usually the adults that are squeamish.
39:27But I do also find that the squeamish adults are the ones that ask the most questions.
39:31I'm looking at the right way out.
39:33Hopefully I've got a little bird looking back at me.
39:39This is the first bird tattoo that I got.
39:42And then I've got some black-cheeked lovebirds here.
39:45And then Tina the Chucan is up here.
39:49Sir David Attenborough, although some people ask me if it's my grandma, so I'm not really sure.
39:54I think about taxidermy every day.
39:56Even on my days off, I'm thinking about what exciting animals I might be able to work on in the
40:00future.
40:01In our taxidermy, we're always trying to make something not only look as it did when it was alive,
40:07but we're also trying to capture the essence of the bird.
40:11I'm happy with it on the stand.
40:12I think it works well with the cheeky nature of the pose that the blackbird's in.
40:20Savornsey's natural world collection wasn't just limited to animals.
40:30Safely stored out of sight are some very rare and very precious stones.
40:38The jewellery collection at Cork Abbey, we have pieces that were worn and belonged to at least seven generations of
40:45the family.
40:47Until now, we haven't really had an opportunity to look closely at the jewellery at Cork.
40:53But we've had a strong feeling for a while that we probably have some very important pieces here.
40:57The National Trust has recently embarked on a major project to assess its jewellery collections,
41:05aided by a very special volunteer,
41:09Honorary Jewellery Advisor John Benjamin.
41:17We've discovered jewellery in a number of different houses that I think have been revelatory for everybody,
41:25not the least as myself.
41:26The jewellery collection at Cork Abbey is wide-ranging.
41:30There are earrings, brooches, bracelets, but there are also everyday pieces and sentimental pieces,
41:38items of jewellery that must have carried great meaning to the family.
41:43Some items within Cork's collection have really caught John's eye.
41:49Oh, that stands beautifully proud, doesn't it? Look at that.
41:53There's such a wow factor, isn't there? I mean, they just dazzle and leap out.
42:00It's almost as if they've come off the jeweller's workbench.
42:04So the condition of the items, too, is remarkable.
42:09The note here, written by Fonsee Harper-Crew,
42:12tells us that he collected some of the beads, the agates, for the set when he was travelling in 1869.
42:18The necklace was designed by his mother and it was set by a famous jeweller.
42:23So that whole story, from the stones being picked to it being set into this beautiful piece, I think is
42:29just wonderful.
42:30It's a family project.
42:31It's a family project. So they're working in harmony to create something.
42:35You start with beads and then you build up from it.
42:40Even within this treasure trove, there are some stones that truly stand out.
42:47When you look at this brooch in the centre here, just look at how large these rose-cut diamonds actually
42:55are.
42:56It's an old-fashioned cut and they were typically stones that would have been cut in around about, say, 1750.
43:01To make them twinkle, they've got tin foil behind the stones
43:05and the tin foil reflects the light back from the actual setting and makes them sparkle.
43:11They are so rare and so beautiful, it leaves you rather dry-mouthed, I'll be honest with you.
43:20These diamond brooches are so significant, they have been specially selected to dazzle the public at an exhibition in London.
43:30The whole reason we do our jobs is for people to enjoy our collections and to be able to benefit
43:36from them.
43:36So to see the items go away and form part of this exhibition is great.
43:42But before they leave for the bright lights of London,
43:45these star pieces need some star treatment from jewellery conservator Joanna.
43:51These are very sizable diamonds, aren't they?
43:54They're such fine examples of Georgian jewellery.
43:56It's so rare, so rare to have diamonds of this size
43:59because through time they're usually recycled and reused in other jewellery, it becomes more fashionable.
44:06Nearly 300 years old and set in fine silver,
44:11Joanna's every move must be perfectly considered.
44:15What I'm doing is I'm just removing the tarnish from the edges of the settings.
44:19I need to use a dry method because I don't want any water ingress behind the stone or any solvent
44:25to get behind the stone
44:27because that's going to draw in impurities and it may cloud the back.
44:32So I'm using a, it's a silicon rubber, it's like a pencil eraser really.
44:38It's got very gentle abrasive in, which should lift off the tarnish without wearing the setting.
44:45It is quite a delicate operation, you've got to be quite gentle.
44:51Mineralogy and gemology has been a lifelong interest,
44:54but not something I thought I was going to make a career from.
44:59I thought I was going to go into forensics and that kind of watching Quincy on the telly.
45:03But I just then got into making jewellery and learning about metals and gemology.
45:11It's not all about bling, it's about social history.
45:16And you find sort of lockets that haven't been opened for centuries with really, you know, personal locks of hair.
45:23Yeah, I think that's what I get most enthusiastic about.
45:29And the setter's just showing off on this.
45:32Have you seen that teeny tiny diamond on there?
45:36I really think the jewellers of the 18th century have never been beaten.
45:40They've reached the absolute zenith of their art and you can really appreciate it when you work so closely to
45:48such a beautiful piece.
45:50The intricate skills of these crafty jewellers have left Joanna with a particularly painstaking process to get the brooches ready
46:00for their first public appearance in many years.
46:12In his workshop, Mike is preparing another collector's treasure for its first performance in years.
46:20Charles Wade's ingenious doorbell automaton.
46:25And that's closing before the soldiers get into it and hitting.
46:30Perhaps the soldier's in the wrong place.
46:33I think I'm going to take him out and see where else he should go.
46:37I think he's, oh yeah, he's going to come out very easily.
46:43There he is.
46:45I've got to find a hole in one of these.
46:52Ah.
46:53We have a hole.
46:55Aha.
46:57There we are.
46:59Now that's...
47:01He's now back in with his little platoon.
47:04The door is closed now and it opens.
47:08Yeah.
47:10And all three guys go through.
47:12It is good news, yes.
47:14It is good news.
47:17All that's left to do is to put the soldiers' new marching orders to the test.
47:24So I just want to see if it does what it's supposed to do.
47:32Things are happening that weren't happening before.
47:35It's lovely.
47:36There's a little figure come out and he's wearing quite an unusual hat.
47:42I think what we'll do is pop it in the box and see whether anything is binding in the box.
47:58I mean, I've made loads of sketches and drawings and when I eventually retire, if I've got nothing to do
48:05over a period of three years, I'll probably make something like this.
48:09It's just something like it.
48:11Just because it's been so much fun, really.
48:14I'm chuffed with that.
48:15I mean, I've done it.
48:16I'm chuffed with that.
48:27I'm chuffed with that.
48:28I'm chuffed with that.
48:34I'm chuffed!
48:41are heading to St James's jeweller's Wortski to witness Cork Abbey's 18th century diamonds
48:49make their 21st century London debut. Welcome. Good morning.
48:58Gosh, they're well packed, aren't they? Look at that. And this is the larger of the four.
49:05Oh, my goodness. I knew the dimensions, but when you see them in real life, the scale of those
49:12diamonds and the brooch is just astonishing. I can't tell you how they're going to be standing
49:20out in the exhibition. Wortski's Joint Managing Director, Catherine Purcell, is curating a once
49:28in a lifetime display of brooches with rare pieces from across the world. We're very fortunate
49:35in having a brooch designed by Pablo Picasso, another brooch designed by Salvador Dali. But
49:42the Cork Abbey pieces, I cannot tell you how excited I am to have them in the exhibition.
49:47There we are. That's the next size. And they harmonize so beautifully. As you can see how
49:55the petal actually curls over. And that's indicated with smaller stones. I think they're so beautifully
50:02observed. For decades, these breathtaking brooches were hidden away in storage. Today, after being
50:13rediscovered and given a conservation clean, they're shining in the spotlight once again.
50:21You have an opportunity very, very rarely in life where you see jewellery that has never really
50:27been looked at before. It's not been appreciated just how rare and singular the pieces are.
50:35This is a very thrilling moment because it is the first time they will be put on display to a
50:42wider
50:42public beyond anybody at Cork Abbey since, I suppose, they were last properly warm.
50:56At Cork Abbey, Ranger Emily is checking in on her living conservation project,
51:02the flock of rare Portland sheep. Good morning, girls. That's not helpful, is it? These are all
51:12expecting. These have all got very full bags of milk in them, so we're expecting them to pop.
51:18They're not quite obliging us at the minute. But this morning, there are some signs of success.
51:36This one was born last night. When they're born, we spray their umbilical cords with iodine,
51:43because it helps dry it out and then prevents infection. Okay.
51:49Lambing is one of my favourite times of the year. It's really hard to not get attached to the lambs.
51:53They're just, they're so cute and so full of personality.
51:57You need to get in if I'm tagging. Yeah. That is correct.
52:00They get a tagging each year. It's not really worse than people having their ears pierced.
52:05Okay. Steady, steady, steady. Good boy.
52:09Come on, mama. Once tagged and logged, the new arrivals are taken out to the kitchen garden
52:19with their mums to begin life as the latest additions to this centuries-old flock.
52:26Come on. Come on. That's yours. That's your pop.
52:30Later on, when lambing's, you know, all over or mostly over and we've got a whole posse of lambs in
52:36here,
52:36they run around in circles. They form little gangs and it's the cutest thing in the world to watch.
52:42They're a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, but I do love them.
52:51At Snow's Hill, Charles Wade's handcrafted doorbell is returning from Mike's workshop.
53:00So we're really excited to get the doorbell back from Mike today,
53:04and hopefully we'll be able to hear it going again, playing its music.
53:08There we are.
53:16Oh, it's so nice to have it back.
53:18Yes. It's beautiful. I can't wait to see it going.
53:25Keen to see the doorbell's first performance in years, an audience has gathered.
53:38Would you like to see it going?
53:40Yes.
53:40Yes, please.
53:49Look at the doors and the little figures up here.
53:53Yeah.
53:54To get the opportunity to try and restore parts of it is just amazing.
54:09I'm lost for words. It's brilliant, Mike.
54:13Well done.
54:14Yay!
54:21The doorbell is just incredible. It's so exciting to have it running again.
54:27We have to be a bit careful with it.
54:29We don't want to undo the good work that Mike has done getting it working again,
54:34but hopefully we'll be able to demonstrate it for visitors,
54:37and it will really bring the object to life.
54:39I love it. Can I have it?
54:41Yes, of course.
54:52In London, Terry is making sure another of Charles Wade's treasures
54:57is ready for its moment in the spotlight at the most comprehensive samurai exhibition ever mounted in the UK.
55:06If you don't mind just holding that, just in case. It doesn't go anywhere, but you never know.
55:10It's the most iconic museum there is, so it's amazing to have an object here on display and be part
55:17of it all.
55:17As the opening approaches, Terry's repairs to the boy's samurai armour are about to be put to the test.
55:25That's the bit where the weight of the plate skirt can pull it apart, so I'll just attach the toggles.
55:35It's going to be lots of people coming to see it, so, yeah, you've got to make sure that it
55:39all looks as perfect as it possibly can, really.
55:43Nice finishing touches with the cord, the helmet.
56:00It's the night of the grand opening, and as dignitaries, curators and invited guests gather in the atrium of the
56:09British Museum,
56:13in the galleries, the team from Snow's Hill have been given a sneak preview.
56:18Oh, that looks amazing.
56:20Oh, goodness, look at that.
56:21Oh, you've done an amazing job. Well done.
56:24It looks so special.
56:27It's been such a team effort to get to this point.
56:31There's so many different people who have been involved, and to have it here at the British Museum is just
56:37phenomenal.
56:37I think Charles Wade would have been thrilled, don't you?
56:40I do. Yes, I do.
56:42It's an incredible story to think, you know, Charles Wade walked into a gas-fitter plumage shop in Cheltenham,
56:50saw a suit of armour, and that really, you know, kick-started this amazing collection.
56:57For 40 years, it's been in storage, and now it's come out, and it's shiny, it's bling, and you see
57:05the face,
57:05and it's just like, oh, hello, here you are again.
57:09I think to see the finished product, whether you see this suit just really,
57:13really singing to the glory of the original craftsmanship,
57:17I think Charles Wade would have been delighted.
57:19I hope we've done him proud.
57:28Take an interactive journey with The Open University to discover how different landscapes have shaped these hidden treasures.
57:47Next time, preserving the legacy of child labourers in the age of industry.
57:53It's really sad when you think about the loneliness of these children,
57:57when we know that they would have been missing their parents.
58:00And the battle to save real-life hobbit holes.
58:04We often think of them as the last cave people of Britain.
58:09We're telling the story of ordinary people, and we're showing how important their place in our history is.
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