麻豆约拍

Following the death of Lord Wraxall in 2002, the Tyntesfield Estate, just outside of Bristol, came onto the market and a unique Victorian house, its land and original contents looked set to be divided up and packaged off.

But the nation fought back - a highly successful public appeal raised more than 拢8m in 100 days and the National Trust, helped by a National Heritage Memorial Fund grant of more than 拢17m, was able to acquire the Gothic-style house, much of its contents and 500 acres of the 1,700 acre estate.

Since then staff and volunteers at the house have been working hard to restore "the last great Victorian house" to its former glory.

Cataloguing of the contents of the estate began in 2004 and has now reached its 30,000th item 鈥� all under the full view of visitors.

From the start the actual renovation, cataloguing and detective work carried out by the National Trust to help preserve the house and estate was not only made accessible by the public, but actually became part of the experience of the visit.

Item 30,000

The landmark item was a simple, spare roll of original 19th Century flock wallpaper, of the design which currently hangs in the Ante Room. The find shows how different the room would have looked when it was first decorated.

鈥淚t is orangey gold on the walls now, but on the roll the wallpaper is a plush mink colour,鈥� said Ruth Moppett, Inventory Supervisor.

鈥淚t's rather nice that it鈥檚 something unusual but also something every visitor sees as they pass through the Ante Room which is where the wallpaper is hung. The change in colour is quite amazing too.鈥�

Meanwhile, the previous item, number 29,999 was a little more unusual - a coconut head, hollowed out and carved with plant fibre for hair!

鈥淗e sits on a bookcase in the Gun Room, only recently opened to visitors, so he makes quite a funny find especially for children,鈥� said Ruth.

鈥淲e know nothing about his history just yet, and I don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l find out much until we discover more about the family鈥檚 travels.鈥�

Unexploded bomb

During the cataloguing,听 bomb disposal teams were called to the mansion house, after an unexploded World War II device was found sitting on a shelf in the Old Servants Hall - it turned out to be a souvenir kept by the sometimes eccentric Lord Wraxall.

Contrary to the Tyntesfield commitment for open-access conservation, the bomb disposal teams felt this exhibit should be removed!

In all, over the last six years, the contents of 65 rooms have been recorded, with 10 more rooms to go inside the house before teams move on to the stables and kitchen garden.听

Work at the estate's 麻豆约拍 Farm has led to the discovery of tools and unmixed paints, revealing more about the range of skills among Tyntesfield鈥檚 estate workers.

鈥淲e found original paint pigments in wooden boxes including cobalt blue, black, ochre yellow and several burnt orange colours,鈥� said Ruth.

鈥淔or me they paint a picture of how the staff worked and lived, as traces of cobalt blue have been found in white paint samples taken from within the house.鈥�

A workman's toolkit has also been found, with all sorts of small, very delicate tools and templates which have been handmade for different jobs around the estate.

鈥淎ll these seemingly insignificant objects help us build the visual tapestry of life on the estate. We have had a lot of interest from visitors who have seen us in action in the workshops and have found these utilitarian objects fascinating,鈥� said Ruth.

Archaeologists will now be moving on to the Upper Watercatch area of the estate. The site was rumoured to have housed a segregated hospital during World War II with African American soldiers being treated separately to their American colleagues.

While that鈥檚 now thought to have happened elsewhere on the grounds, the history of this part of the estate is still a mystery.

Visiting Tyntesfield

Within ten weeks of its acquisition, the National Trust had opened the house to the public - though on a very small scale.

For the first two years of public access, visitors pre booked their visit, used a park and ride scheme from nearby Nailsea and followed volunteer-led guided tours.

But by the end of 2005, new temporary visitor facilities, including a car park and visitor centre were introduced and in 2006 more than 100,000 people visited the house and gardens.

By August 2008 more than 374,500 people have visited Tyntesfield, and that鈥檚 set to rise as it is no longer necessary to book for visits to the estate.

Tyntesfield is open Saturdays to Wednesdays. More information on opening times and how to reach Tyntesfield by public transport can be found from the link at the top of the page.