National Trust Property Research Articles

Hanging in There: The Extraordinary Development of Paper Curtains and the Conservation Treatment of a Rare Survivor

ABSTRACT In 1872 the most lauded invention promoted at the International Exhibition in London, was felted paper. The firm, tough material, remaining ‘soft enough to fall readily into graceful folds’ was invented by Pavy, Pretto and Co. as a cheap alternative to cretonnes or chintz fabrics for curtains, roller-blinds and bed-hangings. One hundred and fifty years later a rare example of a paper curtain ensemble was examined at Mount Stewart, a National Trust property in Northern Ireland, and prioritized for conservation treatment. Research unearthed samples of felted paper in the UK and US, and increased our understanding of their manufacture, distribution, and consumption. The multi-disciplinary project involving textile and paper conservators in decision making and carrying out complex treatments is described, including discoveries made about the curtains’ construction, and previous use. Innovative textile printing onto new fabric was used to support the fragile paper, replicating the reverse pattern of the original paper curtains.

A Recently Identified Barniz Brillante Casket at Bateman’s, the Home of Rudyard Kipling

A casket held at Bateman’s, Rudyard and Caroline Kipling’s home in Sussex—now a National Trust property—was recently recognised as a barniz brillante work. Objects made of barniz brillante, a technique featuring the Indigenous American material called mopa mopa, are relatively rare and have only sparingly been studied using scientific analysis techniques. A collaboration between the National Trust and the Victoria and Albert Museum has produced scientific evidence which will be invaluable in the study and the understanding of this type of object. The scientific analysis of the casket was conducted exclusively in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner, to preserve the integrity of the object which is in very good condition. The Bateman’s casket is characterised by a dark underdrawing, made with a material which is transparent in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most of the areas decorated with silver leaf have tarnished due to the formation of what is likely to be silver chloride. This study represents a significant step towards the comparative scientific study of barniz brillante objects in other collections, which in turn will make it possible to suggest a timeline for their manufacture, and even identify workshops.

Student Project Environmental influences on box blight epidemics

Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae are two recently differentiated fungal species responsible for box blight, a disease that threatens the Buxus genus. Infection can be introduced to gardens on new plants and is spread through the use of tools. The fungus survives on stem lesions and fallen leaves when spores are dispersed by rainsplash. In this study, 195 Calonectria UK isolates collected by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Advisory Service were identified to species level. Detached stem assays were performed to assess how long stem and leaf lesions remain infectious, and their sensitivity to fungicides. A survey was also carried out at three National Trust properties on the effect of clipping on box blight distribution and severity. It was found that C. henricotiae was only present in and after 2011. C. henricotiae is more thermotolerant, and the increase in prevalence may be a result of increasing temperature and longer dry spells in the UK. Sporulation could occur multiple times on both stem and leaf lesions in humid conditions, although spore production dropped markedly after six sporulation events. Fungicides were effective at preventing spore production on stem lesions. Long dry spells may also reduce Calonectria’s ability to sporulate, leading to limited box blight spread between plants.

Cliveden: The Canadian Red Cross Hospital, William Osler and the 'Taplow Affair'.

At the start of the First World War, the estate of Cliveden was offered as a hospital to the Canadian Government by its owner William Astor. This article describes its history, Sir William Osler's involvement in the hospital, and the involvement of other doctors and some of their research. The rehabilitation programs to help the injured soldiers are described, including the physical, occupational, sporting and social activities undertaken in order to help them towards their return to civilian life. Political ambitions in Canada and friction between the owner of Cliveden, Nancy Astor, and the medical/military establishment led to turmoil which engulfed Osler and is known as the 'Taplow Affair'. The hospital was dismantled after the war but became re-activated in the Second World War and is now a National Trust property.

Boots on the Ground: Site-Based Regionality and Creative Practice in the Tasmanian Midlands

Regional identity is a constant construction, in which landscape, human activity and cultural imaginary build a narrative of place. For the Tasmanian Midlands, the interactions between history, ecology and agriculture both define place and present problems in how to recognise, communicate and balance these interactions. In this sense, regionality is defined not so much as a relation of margin to centre, but as a specific accretion of environmental and cultural histories. According weight to more-than-human perspectives, a region can be seen as a constellation of plant, animal and human interactions and demands, where creative art and design can make space and give voice to the dynamics of exchange between the landscape and its inhabitants. Consideration of three recent art and design projects based in the Midlands reveal the potential for cross-disciplinary research, embedded in both environment and community, to create distinctive and specific forms of connectivity that articulate a regional identify.

In view and under foot: the hidden story of fallow deer, knuckle-bone floors and British estates

SUMMARY: The chance discovery of an 18th-century knuckle-bone floor at the National Trust property of Belton House in Lincolnshire prompted a review of all known post-medieval knuckle-bone floors in Britain to examine their date, context of creation and species composition. The identification of fallow deer bones within the Belton floor became the focus of genetic analysis to examine the relationship between ancient and modern deer from the estate and how these deer related to other medieval/post-medieval populations. This paper argues that both fallow deer and knuckle-bone floors were important elements of post-medieval estate landscapes and that more could be done to present their significance to the public.

Indoor mould testing in a historic building: Blickling Hall

Indoor mould growth is a growing concern for all stakeholders of built environment, including residents, builders, insurance and building remediation industry as well as custodians of heritage buildings. The National Trust has reported this problem in a number of buildings under their ownership, and developed solutions and fine-tuned their maintenance programme so as to minimise indoor and surface mould growth risk. This paper reports findings from an extensive mould-testing scheme in Blickling Hall, a National Trust property in Norfolk, England, for an appraisal of airborne and surface mould levels within a total of eight rooms, including the famous Long Gallery. The testing protocol used combines active (aggressive) air sampling and surface sampling, analysis of the β-N-acetylhexosaminidase (NAHA) activity to quantify mould levels and particle counting. The results show that the airborne mould levels are quite low in all spaces, due to satisfactory maintenance of indoor hygrothermal conditions by conservation heating. On the other hand, while the National Trust’s developed solutions and maintenance programme have proved effective to avoid surface mould growth in those locations that historically suffered from microbial activity (such as behind book presses, picture frames and tapestries), the results show that the surface cleaning around windows should be improved to tackle surface water due to condensation, which is considered to be the main driver behind high surface NAHA activity obtained in these areas.

The stories we tell: uncanny encounters in Mr Straw’s House

During my first visit to Mr Straw’s House, a National Trust Property in the North of England, I was intrigued by the discrepancies between the narrative framework provided by the National Trust – its exclusions, silences and invisibilities – and the far more complex stories the house seemed to tantalisingly hint at. As a scholar I am drawn to certain sites and affectively engage with them and yet I usually keep silent about my investment which informs not only my interest but also how I read these heritage sites. My aim here is not primarily to interrogate my own investment, but to ask how productive it is, what it enables me to see and to describe and where its limits are. This case study explores a particular tourist attraction from the perspective of storytelling and asks what narratives can be constructed around, and generated through, the spatial-emotional dimensions of this heritage site. I am interested in the hold sites have over people, why and how they provoke imaginative and empathic investment that generates a network of stories and triggers processes of unravelling which have the potential to transform silences and unmetabolised affect into empathy and emotional thought.

An assessment of moisture induced damage in Blickling Hall in Norfolk, England, via environmental monitoring

In the last few decades, extreme weather events mostly characterized by more intense and frequent precipitation and wind incidents have risen, and current climatic projections strongly suggest that this trend will keep its pace in the future. These climatic conditions pose additional hygrothermal loading onto the built environment, which may lead to moisture induced deterioration and even strength reduction in masonry. Despite their already long service lives, this impact may in time become problematic for historic buildings, which, by nature of their design and construction, interact with moisture and climate to a far greater degree than modern buildings. The PARNASSUS project was set up with the aim of identifying and quantifying the impact of environment on historic buildings in the face of a changing climate. As part of this project, an extensive environmental monitoring campaign was carried out between 2012 and 2014 at Blicking Hall, a National Trust property in Norfolk, England, with the aim of providing further insight into the building’s overall performance under hygrothermal loading. Environmental monitoring work targeted not only indoor and outdoor conditions, but provided information about the temperature and relative humidity profiles across the walls by means of in-wall probes. Wind and rain gauges helped quantify other environmental parameters. This paper presents the findings from this environmental monitoring work, with specific emphasis on the basement suffering from sustained saturation in vapour phase and resulting biological growth, as well as the Long Gallery, where Blickling’s valuable library is kept.

Improving landscape or recreating the picturesque?

Maintaining and restoring historic landscapes requires attention to native vegetation, cultural artefacts, historic buildings, hedges, stone walls and riparian woodland. One United Kingdom National Lottery scheme, which was launched in 1994, funds preservation of ‘heritage landscapes’. This paper examines the Lottery’s contribution to landscape restoration and rural development. It considers different scales at which restoration is occurring, focusing on three examples. The Leasowes estate is a small yet important example of a landscape garden in the eighteenth-century ‘picturesque’ taste. Croome Park, a National Trust property, boasts 270 hectares of parkland and a neo-Palladian mansion. The 105 sq km of the Malvern Hills is a human-created landscape traceable to prehistory, with landscape features dependent on longstanding grazing practices now threatened by changing farm economics. The article highlights different management approaches as it debates issues affecting landscape restoration and heritage management. Resolving tensions between official policy and cultural values within the community offer directions for further research.

When Buildings and Landscapes Are the Collection

When Buildings and Landscapes Are the Collection Tom Mayes (bio) and Katherine Malone-France (bio) Most historic sites and house museums currently follow museum collections standards that do not generally acknowledge that their buildings and grounds often represent the most important and tangible “objects” in their “collection.” In this context, institutions struggle with balancing their stewardship of the museum objects they hold with their stewardship of the buildings and grounds they are also charged with protecting and interpreting. Recently the National Trust spearheaded an effort to reconcile these long-standing conflicts by modeling a new approach—one that treats the historic structures and landscapes, and the object collections, as being the same type of resource. This approach places the historic buildings and landscapes on a par with the museum collections objects and recognizes the interconnected stewardship and interpretation of all three elements. It also reflects both the preservation mission of the National Trust and the realities of, and best practices in, stewardship of its historic sites. Click for larger view View full resolution At Drayton Hall in South Carolina, it is clear that the near-original Georgian building, with its exquisitely crafted interiors, and the landscape that preserves layers of historical development are a major part of the collection. Although Drayton Hall does steward a collection of furnishings, decorative arts and archives related to the site, no furnishings are on display in the home itself. THE CHALLENGE When museum objects and the historic real estate are treated as completely separate types of resources, conflicts between the care of objects, on one hand, and the care of the buildings and grounds, on the other, are [End Page 19] inevitable and can be detrimental to the long-term stewardship of all of these resources. For example, while the installation of an HVAC system might be viewed as necessary for climate control to protect the objects, it may have direct and negative consequences for the architectural and material integrity of the house. Similarly, efforts to use the collection to actively interpret the site may endanger the collection. Staff trained in traditional collections management may apply very distinct standards and use different approaches to stewardship than would staff charged with preserving and managing the buildings and grounds. Click for larger view View full resolution At Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York, it makes sense to consider the mansion and its contents as one unified “collection” of Gothic-revival architecture and design. One of the most controversial questions raised by these differences is this: If funds have been raised through deaccessioning and selling collections objects, may these funds be used to care for the buildings and landscapes? At the Historic Sites of the National Trust, the buildings and landscapes are interpreted to the public as much as, if not more than, the object collections. For example, at Lyndhurst, a National Trust property in Tarrytown, New York, the Gothic-revival mansion, designed by mid-19th-century architect A.J. Davis, is the principal artifact that visitors come to see. Yet the mansion is inseparable from its setting on the Hudson River and the site’s landscape, which exemplifies mid-19th-century design. Inside the mansion, the collection includes furniture designed by A.J. Davis specifically for [End Page 20] the property and objects associated with the families that lived at Lyndhurst over time, but there are also architectural details that are works of art in their own right. All of these different elements are actively interpreted to the public—individually and as a composition—and all are of equal importance in understanding the site. Click for larger view View full resolution A recent case illustrates the arbitrary limitations of the National Trust’s former Collections Management Policy. Stewards of Lyndhurst were prevented from using proceeds from the sale of objects for the conservation of three stained glass windows because the windows are installed in the building. But these funds could be used to conserve a fourth window (right) because, being in storage rather than installed, it was considered to be part of the objects collection. Ironically, this policy favored conservation of the window that was not in use in public view. USING EXISTING STANDARDS AS A GUIDE...

Gilbert Stuart in Britain (1775–1787): A Technical Study of Selected Works From Saltram House, National Trust Property, Devon

Results of technical studies conducted on nine paintings representative of the materials and techniques of Gilbert Stuart's early career (1755–1787) in England illuminate the development of the artist's unique painting style during this period. The studies concentrate on six paintings, a series of portraits from Saltram House, a National Trust property in Devon, but also include three works from Tate Britain, London. Using materials typical of the time, Stuart experimented with layer structure and paint application, expressing his primary interest in the sitter's face, and creating a strong and accurate likeness.

Walter Bentley (1928–2010)

Born in Crossgates on 2 April 1928, Walter spent most of his life in the Leeds area. On leaving school he started work with a firm of Chartered Accountants, and left only to do his National Service, when he served in North Africa. On demobilisation, he returned to the Accountants, where he worked until his retirement as a partner. He had developed an interest in cycling and spent most of his spare time touring both nationally and locally. In more recent times, he loaded his bicycle into his car which allowed him to travel further afield, often to historical sites, castles, battle sites, National Trust and English Heritage properties. One particular interest was old maps and books, and he had a sizeable collection. He was cycling well into 2010, not so long before he died. His favourite site was St. Oswald’s church at Heavenfield. He became a Friend of St. Oswald’s and his ashes are buried there. In retirement, he also travelled extensively abroad on holiday, and visited the First World War battlefields in France and Belgium. He was a member of the YAS and the Roman Antiquities Section for many years, and following the retirement of Mr. Brookes, he took over as Honorary Treasurer, a post he held for eleven years. He subsequently joined the Conservation Group, based at Claremont, and became a very proficient member — assisting in repairing and maintaining our collection of historic volumes. He loved these books and took great delight in restoring them to good condition. As he made an impact on many members, there follow some comments from past Presidents and Chairmen who worked with him, as well as members he met on a regular basis. These sum him up well:

Planning Approaches to Achieve a More Sustainable Travel Industry for Tourism in the UK - a Case Study

Transport is tourism's largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the UK domestic tourism is dominated by car. The UK government is committed to a decrease in carbon emissions and to growing its tourism industry simultaneously. This paper explores the potential conflicts between the transport and tourism policy objectives and evaluates current policies. One obvious approach is to achieve a modal shift away from car to more sustainable public transport. The National Trust operates a large number of tourist attractions in the UK and has attempted to reduce the share of arrivals by car. The paper uses a large sample of visitors to National Trust properties as a case study to measure modal share and identify recent trends. The paper identifies those factors which have the greatest impact on modal choice and evaluates the effectiveness of policies aimed at achieving modal shift. The paper concludes with a discussion outlining the need for a co-ordinated, integrated approach to tourism mobility, highlighting the limitations arising from stakeholders, such as visitor attractions, operating in isolation.

'A great number of Usefull books': The Hidden Library of Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington (1652–1694)

Provenance is usually attributed through the analysis of marks of ownership on books. Frustratingly, however, a great many book collectors leave little or no direct evidence of this kind. This article re-examines the early history of the library at Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in Cheshire, and demonstrates that in this instance, paradoxically, it is precisely the lack of any mark of provenance which allows ownership to be assigned. It identifies a new stratum within the library at Dunham: a collection of books linked by a common absence of contemporary provenance. This collection is analysed alongside surviving printed and archival sources relating to Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, and its ownership hypothesized and tested. The article concludes with a brief analysis of the impact of the identification of a new seventeenth-century private library, both locally and in a broader historical framework.

Environmental Control in National Trust Properties

The paper describes the issues and processes associated with controlling the internal environment in historic National Trust buildings that are open to the public, with the aim of slowing the rates of deterioration of the collections, and decorative interiors, without causing damage to the structure. The paper shows how environmental monitoring is providing knowledge of the building performance prior to any services project and also sets out the current National Trust Environmental Control Strategy. Conservation heating is proving extremely successful at stabilizing environmental conditions and reducing the remedial conservation requirement of the collections. Other control methods, such as buffered microclimates and dehumidification are mentioned briefly, along with the current issues of ventilation, choices of insulation and fuel.

'I have spent my morning reading Greek': the marginalia of Sir George Otto Trevelyan

While the marginalia of the statesman and historian Lord Macaulay has attracted much scholarly attention, that of his nephew, the politician and historian George Otto Trevelyan, is scarcely known. Wallington Hall in Northumberland, now a National Trust property, houses Trevelyan's library and contains many examples of his marginal annotations. His reading ranged from the classics and historical works to contemporary, and sometimes surprisingly light, fiction. He often read aloud to his family, and the notes reveal that some books were reread many times, resulting in deep familiarity with the texts. This article examines the annotations which illuminate the reading practices of an eminent Victorian politician and writer.

Economics of Dust

Dust presents a physical risk to objects and reduces evidential value; it also creates a perception of poor standards of care. However, cleaning also imposes risks of damage, takes time and costs money. The presence of visitors induces much of the dust found in properties, so increasing or extending access has implications for housekeeping that are rarely discussed in economic terms, despite the fact that dust control represents the most expensive element of preventive conservation in historic houses. The range of preventive and protective measures that minimize the deposition of dust also carry costs that often relate to visitor flow. Simple economic calculations show the balance between the costs of cleaning and of other equipment and materials in National Trust properties. The cost per visitor initially reduces with increased numbers of people, but at high flow rates expenditure can increase because of the cost of cleaning. The per capita conservation costs become less than UK?2 per visitor at reasonable visitor flow rates (about 30000 per annum), although, in the calculations presented here for an idealized medium-sized property, costs begin to increase as visitor flow rises above 60000 per annum. Recognizing the economic importance of managing dust is thus essential in assessing the level of access consistent with maintaining appropriate standards of presentation and collections care.

Temperature effects on copper-clad brickwork dome roof

This paper describes an experimental investigation that involved the monitoring of crack movements in the copper-clad brickwork dome roof of an historic building known as Mussenden Temple—a National Trust property located on the north coast of Northern Ireland. An automatic strain measurement instrumentation system was installed which enabled monitoring of crack movements and temperatures at hourly intervals over a four year monitoring period. The data collected over this period is summarised and some interesting conclusions are drawn. It is hoped that the findings of this research will be useful in the assessment of other historic buildings and structures.

Journeys to heritage attractions in the UK: a case study of National Trust property visitors in the south west

Journeys made for leisure are not a key target for UK government transport policy yet leisure travel accounts for a large proportion of car mileage in the UK and increasingly adds to congestion, pollution, accident and parking problems. Journeys to National Trust properties in the south west of the UK in 2001 provide a case study of travel to heritage attractions. Sustainable transport opportunities are explored through analysis of travel distance, travel mode and experience of congestion. Travel distance varies according to leisure setting, location and visitor and visit characteristics pointing to some important opportunities and constraints for transport policy.