A £20m conservation project – the largest in the National Trust’s history – has opened at Knole.

The huge restoration scheme at the historic house in Sevenoaks includes a state-of-the-art conservation studio created inside a former medieval barn, and will be used to conserve many of the treasures housed there and will also take in works from other trust sites and other organisations.

Four of Knole’s showrooms have been reopened following completion of the first phase of building and restoration work, which has included new heating and lighting.

Since the National Trust took on the house in 1946, it has faced a battle with leaking roofs and windows, damp, moths and woodworm which have put its collection of furniture, paintings and textiles at risk. The new conservation studio will rescue the house and its contents from the decay, and upgrade, repair and re-present its grandest rooms and inside spaces that have never been seen before.

The house’s collection includes pieces of rare Stuart furniture, some acquired from royal palaces by Charles Sackville, the sixth Earl of Dorset, when he was Lord Chamberlain in the 17th century.

A team of specialist conservators will be at the studio year-round to clean, repair and treat objects – the first time this has happened.

Dame Helen Ghosh, the National Trust’s director-general, said: “Knole is one of the trust’s most important houses and this is an exciting moment where we can begin to open new spaces within this vast property to tell the story of its occupants and the outstanding collections.

“The new conservation studio is a first-class space for our expert conservators to work on collections from Knole and across the trust and share their expertise with our visitors.”

Knole’s general manager, Hannah Kay, said: “We are in the final stages of the biggest building and conservation project that Knole has witnessed in the last 400 years.

“It is an enormous but exciting challenge and we are thrilled that we can now share the next chapter in the story of this fascinating house with our visitors and supporters.

“The new conservation studio will allow us not only to care for our own collections but to take in work from other trust houses and external organisations.”

The project has been partly funded with a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £7.75m.

THE ITEMS

Items being conserved at Knole include more than 40 portraits including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, a famous 17th century Knole sofa, originally designed as a throne and still upholstered in its original red velvet, and the Royal “Stool of Easement” – an early form of toilet from the French lieux d’aisance, thought to have been used by Charles II.

The new spaces that have been restored and opened for the first time at Knole include the Gatehouse Tower, which was inhabited by novelist and music critic Eddy Sackville-West in the 1930s.

The completed showrooms opened last week include the King’s Bedroom, with its suite of silver furniture and 17th century State Bed designed for a visit from James II, and the Cartoon Gallery, with six full-height restored copies of paintings known as cartoons or working designs for tapestries by the Renaissance artist Raphael.

A new café, shop, visitor centre and learning centre have also been completed. The remaining showrooms and unseen attic spaces from the final phase of work will open in the spring of 2019.

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DETAILS

Knole House, set in a 1,000 acre park, is near Sevenoaks and is open 10am to 5pm each day.
The four completed showrooms are now open to visitors. For details, and more on the conservation work, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/knole or call 01732 462100.