Brasso, Beeswax and Elbowgrease: Petworth House Undercover

This week has been a bit different for the conservation team as we have been running tours in the house during our winter clean.

These specialist tours take visitors through areas we are currently cleaning and beyond, offering the chance to see behind the scenes and meet the conservation team, both staff and volunteers.

We have been encouraging visitors to ask questions about how we care for the collection during winter. We have had a number of familiar questions – such as what we use to clean the collection and the policies of the National Trust on preventative conservation. But we have also had some more - how shall I put it – peculiar, questions, as well as interesting suggestions on how we could be cleaning the collection!

Volunteer tour guide Chris and Conservation Assistant Michelle talking to visitors in the Somerset Room. We opened up the Boulle-work writing desk to show off its beautiful tortoiseshell interior. They loved being able to see the inside of the desk, which is usually closed. It was the first time Chris had seen it too!

Volunteer Conservation Assistant Tasha talking in the Square Dining Room. Lots of questions were asked in here about how we reach all the pictures, and in particular about the conservation issues surrounding Reynold's Macbeth (an update on which will be coming soon)

Volunteer Conservation Assistant Jill dermonstrating how we clean our ceramics collection. A chilly job in the Marble Hall.

These special tours will be running Monday 25^th - Wednesday 27^th November. There are four tours a day – 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:30pm. Each tour lasts 45 minutes and costs £5, or free to National Trust members. So if you’d like to meet the team and find out the answers to some of the above questions, or your own, come and join us!

We hope to see you next week.

Sarah

Conservation Assistant