Deconstruction, protection and replication

The Conservation Team haven’t been the only ones working hard in the cold this week!  Our friendly local builders, Colnets, were working in the Reynolds Room to take down the false walls they built a year ago.  They were put up to insulate the room as part of our environmental control heating trial that took place last year.  Now the trial has finished the room will be reinstated for the 2012 season, with one small difference. 

Colnets removing the last vinyl panel

Colnets begin the deconstruction of the false wall. We are reusing the wood for the protective screening in the show rooms affected during the emergency building works.

This season visitors will be able to walk right in to the room, across the carpet, to test how the heat mat (that was introduced during the trial to control the relative humidity) underneath will cope with 90,000 pairs of feet trampling over it.  Except that it won’t the real carpet you’ll be walking on, but we think you won’t be able to tell the difference.

A birds eye view of the eyemat team at work

The chaps from ‘eyemats’ were here on Thursday to photograph the Reynolds Room carpet.  They will produce a mat with an exact photograph of the carpet on it, showing every detail you would see looking at the authentic carpet.  This will be laid on top of the heat mat in the Reynolds Room in place of the genuine article.  Unlike the real thing the eyemat will withstand all our visitors’ feet walking over it.  To find out more about eyemats please visit their website, http://www.conservation-flooring.co.uk/

Lining up the shot

Jayne and Rosamund, textile conservators from the National Trust’s Textile Studio in Norfolk, were at Knole on Monday and Tuesday to take down and roll three of the tapestries in the Spangled Bedroom. 

The Conservation Team lend a hand to get the tapestry safely off the wall.

They have come down in order to protect them during the building work.  To find out more about the tapestries click on this link: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/130082.2.

Lisa, Melinda, Lucy, Sarah and Emily

Watching Henry VIII go to the toilet is one way to spend an afternoon!

On the 26th July the BBC came to do some filming at Knole with Lucy Worsley Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. They were filming a short piece as part of the new BBC history programme ‘National Treasures Live’ which is airing during August on BBC1.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013c0fv

Two actors came to re-enact Henry VIII with one of his most important courtiers, who would aid the King in going to loo…but his position also meant he was a close confident of the King, and he would have been highly involved in the politics of the day and would have had a certain amount of influence over the King. 
Lucy Worsley did a piece to camera about ‘closed stools’ while looking at our very own Jacobean closed stool in the King’s Closet at Knole.

The top of the closed stool is just visible in the bottom right of this photo

The re-enactment took place in Cartoon Gallery, the biggest of 3 long galleries at Knole.  The Conservation Team supervised the crew and actors to make sure that the collection in the rooms they were using was not damaged in any way.  Although professionals, sometimes film crews aren’t always aware of the environment they are in. Collections in the National Trusts care are the real authentic objects and not props.  The collection at Knole is incredibly fragile so we have to be vigilant that accidents don’t occur and everyone is careful with what they are doing while in the show rooms.

It was an interesting afternoon and we learnt some new facts about Henry VIII…he had stamps with his signature carved in to it so his courtiers could sign documents for him!  I wonder if the Queen does the same now?  probably not though!