Our work in the hall at Felbrigg

A member of staff opens the shutters in the cabinet room at Felbrigg Hall | © Amanda Hulley

Behind the scenes the team at Felbrigg is beavering away on cleaning, protecting and restoring furniture, woodwork and decorative details inside the hall. Discover conservation in action, and look back at some of the important projects that have taken place in recent years.

The daily clean

During the open season, the collections and house team start the day by dusting and vacuuming the show rooms so that they are ready to explore. It also gives the team the chance to condition-check the items, and highlight any issues that might come up. Once the daily clean has taken place, the front door is ready to be opened to welcome everyone inside.

Typical conservation tasks

Looking after the house isn’t just about keeping the rooms clean and tidy, a lot of other work goes on behind the scenes, and in front of visitors on a regular basis.

Light and humidity spot checks

If you have ever wondered why the blinds are down in certain rooms, it's because it is important that light levels are kept down, so that none of the objects in the collection fade. Relative humidity levels are also checked on a regular basis, as when it is too dry, objects may crack and warp, or if it is too damp, mould can grow and pests thrive.

Looking after the book collection

There is a dedicated volunteer book team at Felbrigg that work with staff to look after the large collection at Felbrigg. When issues are found, such as mould, the books are cleaned one by one, using a soft pony-hair brush and a conservation vacuum.

Dealing with pests

The house team also have to keep an eye on the many pests that may be munching on the collection, such as silverfish, carpet beetles and furniture beetles to name a few. There are traps hidden around the hall which are monitored regularly. Occasionally the cellars are even bug-bombed as deathwatch beetle love the damp air down there.

A form for recording pests along with a pest trap at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk — Pest control at Felbrigg Hall | © National Trust/Bethan Partridge

Current projects at Felbrigg

Restoring the Cabinet Room

Since 2017 a large-scale project has been taking place to restore the Cabinet Room at Felbrigg. Our collections and house team have been joined by specialist textile and painting experts, to clean and restore the original damask wall coverings and carpet, as well as examine the furniture, paintings and collection in detail.

Past projects at Felbrigg

A contractor working during the rewiring project at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk — Rewiring project at Felbrigg Hall | © National Trust/Paul Bailey

Rewiring the hall

In 2016 and 2017, Felbrigg underwent major works in order to update the electrical systems. Show rooms were packed up, floorboards taken up and unseen spaces explored. After seven months of hard work, and roughly 5,000 hours, Felbrigg is a step closer to being safeguarded for the future.

A view of the stained glass window in the Great Hall at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk. Through the window you can see scaffold and staff ready to take the windows out ready for conservation. — The removal of the stained glass window in the Great Hall at Felbrigg | © National Trust/Paul Bailey

Conserving Felbrigg’s stained glass

Two tiers of stained-glass panels were removed from the window in the west bay of the Great Hall as part of a conservation project a few years ago. This was done to provide an environment for the stained glass to slow the mechanisms of decay affecting it, as well as working on the stained glass itself. The glass was cleaned where deemed necessary to reveal the original beauty and delicacy of the design that was hidden under years of accumulated dirt.

The Library at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk without furnishings, to show off the new library carpet laid in 2015. — The Library carpet at Felbrigg Hall | © National Trust/Paul Bailey

Replica carpet in the Library

The original library carpet, which dated from around 1830, had become extremely faded and worn – from age, light and nearly 200 years of use. It was not possible to repair the damaged tapestry carpet, so the the National Trust looked at ways to replicate its historic design. The new carpet was made by specialists from The Living Looms Project, a charity based in Stourport that seeks to preserve our nation's weaving heritage. Their late 19th-century carpet looms are the last of their kind in the world and thought to be the only ones capable of making such a replica.

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