0:00:03 > 0:00:08In Wiltshire sits an empty, 500-year-old country house.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Wow!
0:00:10 > 0:00:13We want to breathe new life into Avebury Manor,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and to reopen the house to the public in a few months' time.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23I think it's going to be a long, drawn-out process.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I think you can call it a challenge.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30It will be a stately home like no other.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34A place where visitors can touch everything,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36sit on the chairs...
0:00:37 > 0:00:39..even lie on the beds.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43This one is all about complete interaction with people.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46We'll be making most of the furniture from scratch...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49This is absolutely fantastic.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51..with only a few antiques to add to the mix.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53We're going to be bold...
0:00:53 > 0:00:56- Oh, my goodness! - ..and take risks.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01But we have to convince the National Trust we're right every step of the way.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03- I'm saying this is wrong.- Oh!
0:01:03 > 0:01:05It's the ultimate stately home challenge.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09SHE GASPS
0:01:11 > 0:01:13This week...
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Making a four-poster bed fit for Tudor newlyweds,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19real log fires in the manor - can we have them?
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Taking the waters, Queen Anne fashion...
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Off to Jamaica in the footsteps of a former Lord of the Manor,
0:01:29 > 0:01:34and it it's time to plant our Victorian kitchen garden.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00DRUMMING
0:02:02 > 0:02:07It's summer solstice in Wiltshire - the longest day of the year
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and the biggest date in the Avebury calendar.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Pagans and Druids, and just about anyone else interested
0:02:15 > 0:02:19have gathered to celebrate sunrise at Avebury stone circle.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27It's such a powerful feeling knowing this event has been celebrated unbroken for thousands of years,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31right back to early civilisation, possibly to the Bronze Age.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35This predates Avebury Manor, and I'd imagine these wonderful
0:02:35 > 0:02:39big stones were once the ancient capital of this country.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57A new day dawns at Avebury Manor.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01CHURCH BELLS RINGING
0:03:05 > 0:03:08CHEERING
0:03:08 > 0:03:13There's a wedding at the church, and the house comes into its own
0:03:13 > 0:03:16as the backdrop for those special pictures.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Lord and Lady of the Manor for a day.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22400 years ago, there was another wedding here
0:03:22 > 0:03:26that changed the fortunes of Avebury Manor.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Tudor newlyweds Deborah and James Mervyn started married life here in 1601.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35And this is their bedroom,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38which we want to take back to that very moment.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47Above the fine panelling is a spectacular plaster frieze with vines and acanthus leaves -
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Tudor symbols of fertility and rebirth, perfect for a bedroom -
0:03:51 > 0:03:56and strange figures that symbolise the cycle of life.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Before putting paint onto plaster,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Grant rehearses the colour scheme on paper.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The Tudor age was an age of colour.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Even on paper you can see the whole thing come alive.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19All the paints we are using on the walls and ceilings of Avebury
0:04:19 > 0:04:23will be water-based so the plaster can breathe.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26No putting off the moment -
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Grant begins by painting one small section in its entirety
0:04:29 > 0:04:33so we can see if we've got it right.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The plan is to finish this one off so it's complete,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40then take some photos and send them to Russell,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44just to OK it and then proceed with the whole thing.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Project designer Russell Sage and our historian, Dan Cruickshank,
0:05:07 > 0:05:12are back in Avebury to look at the bed Russell bought at auction last week.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17The gentleman at the back there, at 2,200, selling now...
0:05:17 > 0:05:20The bidding went higher than we'd hoped,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22so it had better be a good buy.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Right. This is our Tudor bed.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Yeah.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33The urgent question is, can it be converted into a grand, four-poster bed?
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Obviously we've got quite a lot of work to do.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39I think that's a bit of an understatement.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42It's a lovely thing, Russell, well done.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I know the catalogue said 1660, didn't it?
0:05:45 > 0:05:47- It looks much earlier. - I think it is, parts of it.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49It's lacking bits and pieces, clearly.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52What's your first impressions, Dave?
0:05:52 > 0:05:55- It's going to need a bit of work, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59In effect, we're putting a completely new structure round the outside of it.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01The columns, the structure survives, of course.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04You repair it, make it strong, big columns...
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Yes, but there's a structure outside it.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09For hundreds of years, people have added pieces,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- and we're taking a fabulous antique and making it... - As people have done in the past.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20Transforming our modest bed into something spectacular is going to be a tricky operation.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28So, while our bed heads north to Herefordshire to begin its makeover,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31it's off to see a real four-poster in all its glory.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40In Tudor times, a bed was the most expensive thing people owned,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44and at Sulgrave Manor in Oxfordshire, I've come to see a beautiful example,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46and, uniquely, I'm allowed to lie on it,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49so it's a perfect model for us.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'Here to meet me is our other Avebury expert, Anna Whitelock.'
0:06:52 > 0:06:55- Hello, Anna. How are you? - Very well, thank you.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57- The bed. - Welcome to the bedchamber.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02This is the object in the house that would have the wow factor.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It's very much the hub of the household and the heart of the home,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09and it was worth about a third of household assets.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12So you'd have this enclosed space which would be brilliantly carved,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15and it had some quite interesting figures on it.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19And would you be able to tell how rich my family was
0:07:19 > 0:07:20by the amount of, say, carving?
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Yes, the amount of carving and also the bed hangings.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27These bed hangings aren't original, the bed itself is.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31And you'd have a bedspread, as well?
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Yes, shall we walk round here?
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Let me talk you through what we've got.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41So, if we crouch down here, you can see here we've got
0:07:41 > 0:07:46straw on the top, but underneath we have ropes, creating this frame.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50- Gosh!- Over the top we've then got a straw mattress.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Over the top of that we would have a sort of flock mattress.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58- This might have horse hair or wool, maybe even rags.- Feathers?
0:07:58 > 0:08:01No, feathers is the next mattress.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07Now, this is expensive, and this then makes for a comfortable bed.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- Do you want to sit on it and have a try?- Right, yes.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Oh! Gosh, it's much softer than I thought.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Yes, I don't think it would quite suit me,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22because I need a firmer bed for my back.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Now, Deborah and James at Avebury are going to move in.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29They've spent a third of their budget on a bed - why?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- It was pretty expensive, wasn't it? Can I join you?- Please do.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Well, in a way this kind of frames our story, really.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The thing I love about a bed is it's like a stage,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41and it really was a stage for life.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45We've got almost these curtains that you'd draw with each different scene.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48And, of course, those scenes would be births, marriages,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52convalescence, death, would all be witnessed in this bed.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Now, shall we get ready for bed?
0:08:59 > 0:09:02- Why don't you hop on the bed?- Right.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- Get yourself comfortable.- Right.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08So, now, you've gone to sleep,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10it might be about nine or ten o'clock at night,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14and the point to remember is that in Tudor England you never slept alone.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17You'd always have someone there as your bedfellow.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Whether or not the master of the household was there,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25you would also have a handy little spot for someone else.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27This is a truckle or a trundle bed
0:09:27 > 0:09:30that, as you can see, comes out on wheels under the bed.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- Isn't that brilliant?- It's lovely!
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Basically, it would be where your servant would sleep.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- Very small ones. - Yeah, it wasn't about comfort.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43So you would be lying in luxury and your servant would be down here.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Of course, if the master was away,
0:09:45 > 0:09:51then the servant might get promoted, as it were, to be your bedfellow.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55- Lovely.- For conversation and security and warmth.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And, finally, at the end of a busy, busy day...
0:09:58 > 0:10:01You draw the curtains - how lovely.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06And you get to have a good night's sleep, and that is the Tudor bed.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Good night, Anna, thank you.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10SHE YAWNS
0:10:11 > 0:10:15No time to sleep back at the manor.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19The boys are arriving with their scaffolding.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20It's all heading upstairs,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25where we're starting work on the grandest room in the house.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30For as long as anyone can remember,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34this has been known as the Queen Anne bedroom.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And when a monarch came to stay you got decorating.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42This is the colour scheme the Trust is most worried about,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46but, if we get it right, no-one's going to forget this room in a hurry.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49First up, the ceiling.
0:10:49 > 0:10:56The basic idea is to have a stormy, cloud sky on this coving part.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I think it's going to be a few different shades of grey.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06I'm not quite sure how distinguished the clouds are going to be.
0:11:06 > 0:11:07We'll see.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12The walls will be marbled -
0:11:12 > 0:11:16that is, painted to give the illusion of real marble.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20It was an effect extremely fashionable in the early 1700s.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23It takes a skilled painter to pull it off,
0:11:23 > 0:11:24but Colin's one of the best.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27The marble effect comes with a little bit of work on it,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31softening edges out, making it a little bit harder.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36A lot of it's about suggestion, just trying to get a bit of depth.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39If it looks a bit naive then I don't mind that,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42because I think this is just the base.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Many grand English houses had marbled paint schemes,
0:11:48 > 0:11:54but, as tastes changed, they've been painted over and lost forever.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Some were very bold, mixing pink, red and orange -
0:11:57 > 0:12:01pretty outrageous, like ours is going to be.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Queen Anne probably came to stay at Avebury in the early 1700s,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09on her way to take the thermal waters at Bath.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12She was often ill,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16not helped by a good deal of overeating and drinking,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18and believed the waters made her better.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22The road to Bath was a long and treacherous one.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27It was little more than a well-worn path with ditches and potholes,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32and, depending on weather, it could take three days at the very least.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35So, even though she was travelling in the royal carriage,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38the journey can't have been an easy one.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The beautiful and historic city of Bath.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53For more than 2,000 years, people have believed in the curative powers of its thermal springs,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56which bubble up from deep inside the earth.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03I've got a twinge in my neck, and Dan's limping a bit.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05I wonder if it'll do us any good.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12- Wonderful.- Hello. - This looks rather exclusive.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15'Back in the late 17th and early 18th centuries,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18'this was the favourite bath of the royal family,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20'so Queen Anne knew it from an early age.'
0:13:24 > 0:13:29I noticed outside in gold it says "the Cross Bath." Why Cross?
0:13:29 > 0:13:32There was a cross here commemorating its use
0:13:32 > 0:13:36by the wife of James II in 1688.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39A cross was put up for Mary of Modena
0:13:39 > 0:13:42because she found it so beneficial to bathe here for her health,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45- and this is the bath that Queen Anne came to.- Really?
0:13:45 > 0:13:48- So she would have dipped in here? - Yes, in the Cross Bath.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51This was more fashionable, more exclusive, more private.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Down there's the King's Bath,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56that was public, and a bit alarming, I imagine.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00When Queen Anne was here, would people be able to see her bathing?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- No, I'm pretty sure not. - But it was open to the elements.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Yes, but screened from public gaze.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07I'm sure when she came she'd have had sole use.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12So, if you and I go in, will we feel wonderful tomorrow?
0:14:12 > 0:14:14- I've never done it. - I think we should.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18- I've got a slightly bad knee. - I want to be a new woman tomorrow.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Let's start, right, let's get our clothes off.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25- I'm off in here.- I'm in here.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28'So, it's into our 18th-century bathing gear.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:33'Oh, dear, what do we look like?
0:14:33 > 0:14:35'Dan's got trouble with his gusset,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37'and my weighted modesty gown weighs a tonne.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41In Queen Anne's time, doctors believed a dip at Bath
0:14:41 > 0:14:45could restore the balance of what they called "the bodily humours."
0:14:45 > 0:14:48- It's beautiful and warm. - Beautiful and warm.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54Where it's gone wrong for me... I haven't got lead in my knickers!
0:14:54 > 0:14:55I'm not sure what's happening.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Ohhh! It's very like getting into a bath of...
0:14:58 > 0:15:02- As for my modesty lead weights... - I'm not looking, it's all right.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03No, please don't.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Right, my Japan bowl is now floating,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08with my handkerchief.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12- Right, this is doing my joints a lot of good, is it?- I hope so.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- Other things as well.- What is it...
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- What is in the water that's good for us?- What's interesting...
0:15:17 > 0:15:21People thought a lot of diseases were to do with an imbalance of the humours,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26so if you were too cold and too moist you needed to be heated up.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Well, I'm moist and warm, so...
0:15:29 > 0:15:33This is good, because this water's meant to increase the humour to do with...making you drier.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36So it makes you drier and hotter.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39So I suppose Queen Anne, she came here for that reason.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Because she had a particular problem with all these children, didn't she?
0:15:43 > 0:15:46- 17 pregnancies... - And none of them...- Yes.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50So I suppose it was to do with fertility, to do with the kidneys...
0:15:50 > 0:15:51- Rheumatism?- Rheumatism.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54So it was a sort of all-purpose thing, and do you know what,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I think...I think there's something in it.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00- I think I'm going to get out in a moment.- OK.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Because otherwise the weight of my clothes will weigh me down.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07- I am rather enjoying it.- Well, have a nice time, and you swim around.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I've had my swim.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17In Avebury, the volunteers are hard at work,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21ready for the first day's planting in our Victorian kitchen garden.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24The seedlings and young plants,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29grown by students at Wiltshire Agricultural College, are arriving.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33It's the day our head gardener, David Howard, has been waiting for.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38Now we'll get an idea if the mix of vegetables and flowers will actually work.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41That must be the first bit of colour that we've got in the garden.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44LAUGHTER
0:16:49 > 0:16:52This is fantastic.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Plants are starting to arrive, the sun's come out now, lots of help.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57We're going to get this planted today.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09'Just ten weeks ago, this is how the garden looked.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12'A wilderness.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14'Now I'm back to see the changes for myself.'
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Gosh!
0:17:17 > 0:17:23Wow! What a difference. Oh, it's stunning. It's wonderful.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Welcome to my garden. - It's wonderful!
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- Well, it's been spread around a little bit.- These are all the veg?
0:17:29 > 0:17:34- Yes, yes. Carrots...and... and beetroot and...spinach.- Yeah.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36And what we've done is we've mixed the flowers in with
0:17:36 > 0:17:39the vegetables, so already we've got some colour here
0:17:39 > 0:17:41in the garden with the marigolds.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Yes. Now, this is a National Trust garden,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and people when they go to a National Trust garden
0:17:48 > 0:17:49go round in awe.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53But I want them to be able to walk in the gate and say, "Wow,"
0:17:53 > 0:17:54in the same way as I did.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58But I did it because I realised what it was like before.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02When they come in here, all this will have grown together,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04but will they be able to say, "Wow"?
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It'll be stunning. Trust...trust me.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13- Vegetables can be really fantastic, visually stunning.- Really?- Yes.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14I believe you.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21The picturesque market town of Honiton in Devon.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And Russell's here to check out some panelling
0:18:25 > 0:18:27that might help us out with our Tudor bed.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34We chatted about it on the phone the other day but I'm so glad you've still got it.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37When I saw it a few weeks ago I thought it might do
0:18:37 > 0:18:42the job I need, which is... We need these bits, for a bed.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45They are absolutely fantastic and I'm sure will keep Dan
0:18:45 > 0:18:47very, very happy.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51When we spoke on the phone we said...it's down as 17th-century,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53but it might be a little bit earlier, you think?
0:18:53 > 0:18:57- It could be anything from 1590 to 1610.- Really?- Yeah.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Well, 1590 is our magical date.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04I think it's absolutely fantastic and, yes, please, I'll take it.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11This is the Herefordshire workshop of the Four Poster Bed Company,
0:19:11 > 0:19:16where we'll be performing major surgery on our Tudor bed
0:19:16 > 0:19:19to make it grand enough for Avebury.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Dan's here to keep an eager eye on things.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31He's worried because we're about to commit an act of vandalism.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Master joiner Stephen Edwards is ready with his tools.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39The basic frame is probably 17th-century.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Mm, that'll be fairly humble.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49You won't see this on the Antiques Roadshow.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Non-destructible and reversible. Oh, no, it's come off easily, look.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- Got to be fairly gentle. - Yes, indeed.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09There's one there. Where is there one? Oh, look at that.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13So this will just simply go almost like that, won't it?
0:20:13 > 0:20:16So the figure goes roughly forward a bit, isn't it? Up a bit.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21I think we'll have to have something a little bit wider to sit that onto.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26She'll go in the middle like that, thereabouts.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28And there's number three.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37The figures will be the ornamentation on the newly-made headboard,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39a healthy mix of new and old.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- Lady in the middle. - Lady in the middle.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43And we've got one either side there.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Yeah, it's coming together.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49But it's just the start.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Bedposts have to be made,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and the canopy, all with the right Tudor mouldings.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57So that, really, is the detail, isn't it?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59We've left that off.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02So they normally come in like that, don't they?
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- So that's where we'd have the natural split.- Yeah.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06It's a precision operation
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and everything has to be sturdy
0:21:09 > 0:21:13to allow the visitors to bounce on the bed, should they wish to!
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Just screw that one up like that. Grab one of these.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24That should be about right.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34Meanwhile, back at the manor, painting is breaking out all over.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39No square inch is safe from a spot of new colour.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Colin is giving the Queen Anne marbling yet another layer.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52And Grant's still at work on the Tudor frieze. It's painstaking.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59I think it's looking pretty good.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04I haven't painted many Tudor friezes before in my life!
0:22:05 > 0:22:09But, um, by all accounts they're all very kind of simple,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11just flat colour.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13And quite simply painted.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And all you're trying to do is put colour into something
0:22:16 > 0:22:17that is essentially a relief,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21so...it's...it's there, doing its job anyway.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52The heart of any house is the kitchen,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and we want to turn the clock back 100 years.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The kitchen used to look like this, so we want to find
0:22:59 > 0:23:04an identical Victorian range to fit back in the chimney.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15News reaches us there's a house being demolished
0:23:15 > 0:23:18just outside Liverpool that has a 100-year-old range.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22It's an amazing stroke of luck,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27but we've got just six hours to get it out or be buried alive trying.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Neville Griffiths is a salvage expert,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35but even he is excited about our find.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37You come in here...
0:23:38 > 0:23:42I mean, you've got a wonderful original cooking range,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45one of the best of its type.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49This is probably at the height of the late 19th century.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53As you can see, it's a double oven, it's got all the hot plates,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55it's got the dampers.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00These are for controlling, for roasting, baking, the boiler.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01Full fronts on the top.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05"Large fire, only for roasting in front."
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And I would think if you're going to roast in front there
0:24:08 > 0:24:12you would need to drop this down so you've got a deep fire.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Nothing's budging.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23The problem is those Victorian engineers did their job too well.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30No, I can't get enough weight on it.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32That's a pain in the arse.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Come on, boys.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Ah, here's someone else to help.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38It may be brute force
0:24:38 > 0:24:42and the rest of the demolition crew in here shortly.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52The only option is to come at it from behind.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03This is pretty tough old horrible stuff, isn't it?
0:25:03 > 0:25:06That's it. Well done.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11The whole thing's now starting to move.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20That doesn't look safe, does it, Pete? Right, hang on a minute.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Whoa, whoa, whoa. First break. First break.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28A piece has broken off one of the doors.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31That was just taking your eye off the ball for a few seconds
0:25:31 > 0:25:36and unfortunately that's what happens. Erm...
0:25:36 > 0:25:41So, I mean...it can be repaired but it's disappointing.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49Back at Neville's workshop, the rescue job starts in earnest.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54That was bloody good. Cor, I haven't felt that good for ages.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Neville and his team are dismantling,
0:25:59 > 0:26:00cleaning,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and rebuilding the whole thing to bring the range back
0:26:04 > 0:26:06to its former glory.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08- We just have to be careful... - CLATTERING
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Nothing broken, then(?)
0:26:20 > 0:26:24You actually see it come to life as you're cleaning it.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27You're the first person that's seen that since this was cast.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33It looks absolutely beautiful. Beautiful.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44In Sturminster Marshall, Dorset, they aren't in the business of restoration,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48but making antiques that are brand-new. The antiques of the future.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52I've got these other pictures for this table.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56It's the empire of maverick furniture maker Johnny Sainsbury.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Oh, that's fantastic. It's going to look fantastic.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Making high-quality period furniture from scratch
0:27:02 > 0:27:05has been central to our project from day one,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08but it's always worried our historical expert Dan,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11who doubts the quality will be good enough.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16So Russell's brought him along to meet Johnny and hopefully reassure him.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- He can do it for us, of course. - The point is he doesn't make fakes.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23- They're just reproductions, aren't they?- Yeah. But copied faithfully.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28- Hi there. How are you? Jonathan Sainsbury.- This is Dan. How are you?
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Very well, Lord Sage. Nice to see you.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Dan accepts we're going to make new furniture,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36but it's got to be accurate in design and construction.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39I think he's going to give Johnny the third degree.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43- Do you have anything that could be more of a 17...- A look for that?
0:27:44 > 0:27:47It looks pretty good to me.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50We try as close as we can to make them
0:27:50 > 0:27:52exactly as they would have been made.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53So is Dan convinced?
0:27:55 > 0:27:59It's like, in one's fantasy, going back to the mid-18th century,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02as if you were walking around Chippendale's workshop.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07- It is like that.- I recognise a lot of the designs. You know, here.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09If Dan gives the thumbs-up,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Johnny is going to make quite a bit of furniture for Avebury.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17So what's the verdict, yes or no? Professor Cruickshank?
0:28:17 > 0:28:20It's a strange, uncanny, almost unnerving dreamland.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23This furniture is what one sees in books,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27in museums and great country houses, and here it is.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30I mean, I recognise a lot of it, you know, with the Chippendale design.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34This fretwork here. But it's...it's new!
0:28:34 > 0:28:39It's new and available and here in quantity.
0:28:40 > 0:28:46I do feel this is another of those hurdles we've got over for Avebury.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50We can, I'm sure now, get good furniture that's going to look right,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52have the right quality, and be robust.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55That's really important, that people can use the furniture,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58kids can sit on it and jump on it if they want to.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00So, good, good, good, good, good.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05Back at the manor, the Georgian dining room is being spruced up
0:29:05 > 0:29:07ready for the Chinese wallpaper.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10This room has the grandest architectural details,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and when it's finished we want this to be
0:29:13 > 0:29:17one of the big eye-openers for visitors.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20This was the favourite room of Avebury's most flamboyant occupant,
0:29:20 > 0:29:25Adam Williamson, military hero and former governor of Jamaica.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28We're taking it back to the height of fashion in the 1790s,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31when Williamson threw extravagant parties
0:29:31 > 0:29:34here at Avebury. He also indulged in
0:29:34 > 0:29:38a peculiar form of after-dinner entertainment.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41It was one way to burn off the calories.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45So I'm off to a little-known museum in east London
0:29:45 > 0:29:48where I can have fun too, the Williamson way.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05This is the chamber horse, and it was designed to give you
0:30:05 > 0:30:07all the beneficial effects of riding a horse,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09but in the comfort of your own home.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12And it was designed to shake up the liver
0:30:12 > 0:30:15to clean the blood of all those toxins and poisons
0:30:15 > 0:30:19brought on by excessive alcohol and rich foods
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and, I tell you what, it's a wonderful contraption.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28'All we have to do now is make one,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32'but Johnny is pretty confident all it needs is a seat full of springs,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35'a chair frame that can take a few knocks
0:30:35 > 0:30:37'and a master craftsman.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39'In fact, he's already got started.'
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Yeah, so this is the exercise chair as to where we're at so far.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48As you can see, it's a bigger thing than you'd ever really imagine.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52This here is the upright grasping pole.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55It's fixed to the base and fixed through to the arm.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58That will give it massive amounts of stability.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Then, applied to the top, will be these little turnings
0:31:01 > 0:31:04just giving a little bit of sharpness and decorative.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06The back still has to be cut out and finished
0:31:06 > 0:31:09and that has a light carved edge round it.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13The drawer, here, is all made and constructed using
0:31:13 > 0:31:1618th-century timbers with 18th-century hardware,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18and this pulls out to act as a foot rest.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22After that's completed, we have to then send it off
0:31:22 > 0:31:25to our leather people who will put all the seat working mechanisms in
0:31:25 > 0:31:28and then we'll be done and ready for some exercise.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41As governor of Jamaica, Williamson was accustomed to the good life.
0:31:43 > 0:31:4520, 20.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48In the late 18th century, Jamaica was the biggest money-spinning
0:31:48 > 0:31:51colony in the British Empire,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54and Williamson indulged every moment of it.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00This is King's House, where Adam Williamson lived.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05It sits in Parade Square, a slice of Georgian England
0:32:05 > 0:32:08at the heart of Spanish Town.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10And what a house!
0:32:10 > 0:32:12More a palace, really.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18I'm rather hoping some of the photographs that I'm taking will give
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Russell some inspiration for the dining room. That architectural
0:32:21 > 0:32:24detail and just getting the feel and the dynamic of it.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29It was here that Williamson got his taste for the grand life.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32His banquets were legendary.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34The guests were the rich plantation owners.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39The household servants were slaves, paid for by the British government.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47On the orders of the king, and to recognise his services as governor,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Williamson was knighted in this very square.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58Local historian, Diane Franklin, has researched this grand occasion.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01What you have to imagine, you know, Paul,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05is that this square would have been filled with people
0:33:05 > 0:33:10and as we were... As the procession was moving from here,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13you have to imagine that
0:33:13 > 0:33:16they were walking two-by-two. All the military officials
0:33:16 > 0:33:22carrying crimson cushions with state swords
0:33:22 > 0:33:27and banners and the music was playing.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30You would have had people in their grand finery
0:33:30 > 0:33:37and they would have literally been awash with colour
0:33:37 > 0:33:39and ceremony and pomp.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Would the plantation owners be here as well?
0:33:42 > 0:33:46Oh, yes. You would have had all of the plantation owners
0:33:46 > 0:33:50who had townhouses in the town at the time.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Most of the plantation owners who had homes here
0:33:54 > 0:33:57- where the wealthiest.- All eager to make friends with the governor?
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
0:34:00 > 0:34:06Because this was saying thanks to a wonderful man.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Williamson has gone down in history as a mild and humane man,
0:34:11 > 0:34:15if overly fond of his drink and a little disorganised.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20During his time a governor, 1,000 new slaves arrived
0:34:20 > 0:34:26in Jamaica every month, bound for a life of enforced servitude
0:34:26 > 0:34:28as the property of a plantation owner.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Many became domestic servants, but the majority
0:34:31 > 0:34:34were headed for the sugar fields.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37The work was back-breaking, the day was 18 hours long,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41the punishments were harsh for weakness or disobedience.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47This was the world over which Adam Williamson presided.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53He was in power at a seminal time in slave history,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57but everything I've heard makes me feel that, potentially,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00he was more lenient in his dealings with slaves,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03albeit restricted to the thinking of the day.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Williamson championed the rights of slaves
0:35:08 > 0:35:09to serve in the British Army,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12which was regarded as progressive at the time,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16although the life of a soldier was hardly carefree.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20During his time on the island, he personally owned just one slave,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22who worked as his manservant.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27So, what are we to make of slave owners today?
0:35:27 > 0:35:32I've come to the Good Hope Plantation to ask historian Dr Alric Joseph.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36The planter class lived in fear.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41Fear of what the large body of enslaved blacks would do to them
0:35:41 > 0:35:42if given the chance.
0:35:42 > 0:35:48- Hmm.- And your relationship to slaves, or the enslaved in that society,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51will give you your position in society.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55If you're an owner, usually white, you'd be at the top.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Though there were some coloureds, free black, who owned slaves -
0:35:58 > 0:36:03because slaves were property, right - and even if you were sometimes
0:36:03 > 0:36:09reluctant to be a slave owner, you invariably became one
0:36:09 > 0:36:10because you need servants,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13and those were the available servants.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Everybody was touched by this institution,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18this infamous institution, slavery.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Williamson returned to England in 1796,
0:36:28 > 0:36:32where he embraced the more affable role of Lord of the Manor.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37Avebury, like so many stately homes, is touched by slavery.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Back at the house, the Queen Anne marbling is really coming along.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55Stippling, sponging and marbling, it's layer upon layer
0:36:55 > 0:36:56to get the vibrancy we want.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01We know the Trust is nervous about this scheme and we're
0:37:01 > 0:37:04going to have to show it to them before long.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Looks good.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Lots to do.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13But I want proof that what we're doing is right.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Our scheme is very bold, and with all the English examples
0:37:18 > 0:37:22of outrageous marbling long since painted over,
0:37:22 > 0:37:24I'm going to have to look further afield.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Holland - pretty as a postcard.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36This is the town of Zutphen,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38just north of Amsterdam.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42In the late 17th century and early 18th century,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46everything Dutch was the height of fashion in England.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52I'm here with Dan and we're heading for the brilliant palace of Het Loo.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57- This is the palace? - They wouldn't call it a palace...
0:37:57 > 0:38:00- I would.- ..they'd call it a house of pleasure.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03- Oh, a house of pleasure. - That sounds better.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07It's so neat and tidy that it doesn't look as though it's going to be very pleasurable.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11Well, that's fascinating. That's the great fashion at the moment,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14the austere architecture - externally austere -
0:38:14 > 0:38:18the beauty coming from proportions, but wait till you see inside.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24In every room, there's a fantastic mixture of real marble
0:38:24 > 0:38:26and marble paint effects. Queen Anne's sister,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Mary, lived here. So, where better to find
0:38:29 > 0:38:32justification for our Queen Anne bedroom?
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Though, it is a little grander than Avebury.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40- A very grand staircase. - The main staircase, yes, it's, um...
0:38:40 > 0:38:43- Now, it's designed in the 1680s... - To knock you out?
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Well, indeed. And imagine bathed in sunlight
0:38:46 > 0:38:49- it would be pulsating with colour. - And, of course, when you look
0:38:49 > 0:38:51you think that's a pillar.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56This is the point, it's creating three-dimensional space in two-dimensional surfaces.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Creating exotic landscape in exotic materials. You can't work out
0:38:59 > 0:39:02what's really 3D and what's actually 2D.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Typical of this illusion and delusion,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07- this is not a wall, but it's a door. - Hurray!
0:39:18 > 0:39:23This is Queen Mary's bedroom, created for her about 1686,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- and a wonderful example of... - A marble fireplace.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Well, ah, now you say marble, this is the point,
0:39:29 > 0:39:33- it isn't all...- That's marble. Yes, and that is...
0:39:33 > 0:39:35Painted marble.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37- And it's beautifully done.- Stunning.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39All the colours are so right, you see.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41And these are the sort of colours,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44- the balances that we're going for at Avebury.- But what is
0:39:44 > 0:39:47the practical thing? Was it the fact that this was cheaper,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51the painting, or was it less heavy on the floor?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Well, it was cheaper and that was an issue and, indeed, less weight,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58but really, I think, largely it was to create a delightful
0:39:58 > 0:40:00decorative effect.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03- An illusion.- Yeah, to amuse people coming into the room.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06"How can I delight and amuse the Queen if and when she comes to stay?
0:40:06 > 0:40:09"I know, we'll have a marble bedroom."
0:40:09 > 0:40:13But the marbling that I think we're going to have
0:40:13 > 0:40:15is very loud for a bedroom.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17That's why it's glorious to come here.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21People may say, "Oh, my goodness, what they've done is so vulgar."
0:40:21 > 0:40:25But basically, marbling can be seen, as we look around here,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28as pretty ostentatious, pretty loud, almost vulgar.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30It's a wonderful experience.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32It shows us marbling as it would have looked
0:40:32 > 0:40:34in the late 17th century.
0:40:34 > 0:40:35So we've got it right.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Well, I'm convinced.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48Back at Avebury, it's time for the National Trust to give its verdict.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54Will curator Lucy Armstrong be won over? I'm not so sure.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56Oh, wow.
0:40:59 > 0:41:00Blimey.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Wow.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Cor, blimey, it's strong colours!
0:41:12 > 0:41:16I mean, if we're talking about personal taste, it's quite loud.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19There's a lot of hard work that's gone into it.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21There's many layers, I can see that.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Well, they certainly know to paint, don't they, these guys?
0:41:26 > 0:41:28I think the quality, the standard of the painting
0:41:28 > 0:41:31when it's all finished will be really impressive.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34As ever, there's issues of whether it should be marbled or not,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37but this is what you've got, isn't it?
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Yeah.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46OK.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52Oh, dear. And things are about to get even more tricky.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Work's started on the Tudor bedroom ceiling,
0:41:54 > 0:41:59the one thing Lucy really didn't want painted.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Suddenly a whole menagerie
0:42:01 > 0:42:05of Tudor birds and beasts are bursting alive with colour.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09So, are we right?
0:42:18 > 0:42:22This is the town of Conwy on the coast of North Wales.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24Visitors come to Plas Mawr
0:42:24 > 0:42:28to marvel at its bright and cheery plasterwork.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32And it was built at the same time as Avebury.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36Anna is here to check out how the painted ceilings
0:42:36 > 0:42:39compare to what we're doing with our Tudor ceiling.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44She's heading upstairs to the main room in the house.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Here we are in the great chamber.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Ceiling adorned with emblems, Tudor roses,
0:42:58 > 0:43:04colour and vibrancy and a real spectacle.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08There's something so refreshingly modern,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11but at the same time, completely authentic to the period.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14And it really does break the mould in terms of our expectation,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16I think, and visitors come in
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and are completely shocked by what they see.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21It's a feast for the eyes.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32Brighton on the south coast.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36And some late-night work is under way on the elaborate carvings
0:43:36 > 0:43:39needed for the Tudor bed.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Ray is creating a frieze of pomegranates and vine leaves,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47more Tudor fertility symbols for our newlyweds.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50The carvings will make up three sides of the bed,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52just below the canopy.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Ray's been carving, man and boy, for 60 years.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01So there's not much he doesn't know about wood and how to handle it.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05Anyone can learn to carve.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07But to advance, you have to be a bit artistic,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10then whatever you can draw you can carve.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17In old Victorian days, woodcarving used to be a gentleman's hobby.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22They all had their little set of carving tools.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Nowadays as a hobby it's great.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29You can take as long as you want on carving, you don't have to rush it.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Because this is all wanted in a hurry,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35it means starting early and working a bit later.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Once it's finished, Ray's work will head north to Herefordshire
0:45:07 > 0:45:11to be united with the rest of the bed.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13I hope the measurements are right.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Hopefully, the frieze has arrived now,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19so we can start to put the top of the bed together.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Which will be great, we've been waiting for this for about a week.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26So we ought to have a look at it and see what it looks like.
0:45:26 > 0:45:27I'm sure Ray's done a smashing job.
0:45:31 > 0:45:36There you go. Look at that. He's done a lovely job, hasn't he?
0:45:36 > 0:45:40Next stage, staining the timber so it matches the old.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45And in no time at all, the wood takes on the patina of age.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49It was only the rich and the wealthy that could afford a bed like this.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51The royalty, the noblemen.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54It was a sign of wealth. That's what people aspired to.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13We're trying to speed the process up of wear.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15You've got the tools and the know-how
0:46:15 > 0:46:18and the techniques these days of making a super job.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21You don't want them fitting too well, because 400 years,
0:46:21 > 0:46:22you wouldn't get that.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26In some respects it's crazy, but it's what the client wants,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28so it's what we're trying to do.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Montrose, on the north-east coast of Scotland.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55Home to the last handloom linen weaver working in Britain.
0:47:07 > 0:47:13Ian Dale is already at work on our Tudor bed hangings and bedspread.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18The warp feeds in from one direction towards the weaver,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20the weft, a single thread,
0:47:20 > 0:47:25is added by the shuttle flying at high speed from right to left.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34If required, the Jacquard instructs hundreds of individual cords
0:47:34 > 0:47:37to rise and fall at precise moments.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51The result, a beautiful pattern.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54- Here we have a hemp cord.- Right.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56So it can take a tremendous strain.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58'Like the bed at Sulgrave Manor,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01'the mattresses will be supported by rope.'
0:48:01 > 0:48:07- So that'll take a very heavy person in bed?- Or two.- Or two!
0:48:07 > 0:48:09Oh, there we are! That's fine.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11So, this is ticking, I know,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13I recognise that from pillows when I was little.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17This will make the top mattress for the bed, the bolster and the pillows.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22At the bottom of each hanging we will have hand-made fringing.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26That is glorious. Oh, that'll look terribly pretty, won't it?
0:48:26 > 0:48:30I want a suit made of that. And it lights so beautifully. Look at that.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32We've called it Tudor Green.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35'And this material will make up the hangings.'
0:48:35 > 0:48:38So this will be our bedspread, but it looks a bit plain
0:48:38 > 0:48:41in comparison to all the lovely hangings.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42Yes, Penelope, we will send this off
0:48:42 > 0:48:45to the ladies at the Royal School of Needlework,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48and onto that they will actually embroider in crow work
0:48:48 > 0:48:52the eyelets from the peacock that's actually in the room on the ceiling.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56- Peacock eyes all over it? - All over it.- That's very exciting.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04And the ladies from the Royal School of Needlework,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07suitably based at Hampton Court Palace,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10have already begun work on the peacock eyes for our bed.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Anna's here to give them a helping hand.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19I'm in the right place, Royal School of Needlework.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Come with me, come with me. I think we're through here.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27I'm looking for embroiderers. And here they are.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30A gaggle of embroiderers, or a gossip of embroiderers,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32whatever the collective noun is.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35They're not doing much gossiping, which is a shame.
0:49:35 > 0:49:36I'm looking for Margaret.
0:49:36 > 0:49:41Margaret is there. Brilliant. Hi, Margaret. Thanks for having me here.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44- Are you going to tell me about embroidery?- Yes.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48- And maybe even show me how to do it. - Yep.- OK.- OK.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51First of all, why don't you tell me about what you're doing here,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55cos you're brilliantly now working for us at Avebury Manor,
0:49:55 > 0:49:59and all of your band of merry men and women are sewing away peacock eyes.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Peacock eyes. This was the original that was sent to us.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06What we've done is matched wool to the colours on here.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10And we've tried to reproduce what would have been used originally,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13so it's exactly the same fabric.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16- Same fabric, same wool, same variation in colours?- Yes.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19- Totally authentic. - Yes, this would have been used.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22- Wow. So you could be a Tudor gentlewoman?- Yes.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24You could have dressed up!
0:50:27 > 0:50:30- So now, show me what you're doing here.- I think you should have a go.
0:50:30 > 0:50:36- Yeah?- Right, so, needle underneath. - How exciting. What if I mess it up?
0:50:36 > 0:50:40You won't. So you come up somewhere in the green, like there. Yeah.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Pull your needle through.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- It's quite tough, actually. - It is quite tough, yeah.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49- It's quite coarse fabric, isn't it? - So take the needle through.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Oh, is that all right? What's happening?
0:50:51 > 0:50:53That's not tied off at the end.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56How long does it take to do a peacock eye?
0:50:56 > 0:50:58One like this might take about three or four hours,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02- depending on how quick you go. - Oh, gosh.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05And how many people have you got working on these peacock eyes?
0:51:05 > 0:51:08I think we've got about 32 or 33 people.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11Some doing more than one, so we should have lots.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14So we should have 40 or so, maybe, peacock eyes. Fantastic.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16And what you think of this?
0:51:16 > 0:51:19Very good for a first attempt. I think it's fine.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21Wow. I'm quite proud of myself!
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Back in our Victorian kitchen garden,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36the vegetables have simply shot up.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40But there's bad news for David. There's been an invasion.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Definitely rabbits here in the garden,
0:51:45 > 0:51:47because these rows of carrots, if you look carefully,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51you can see at the start of the row, the foliage is much shorter
0:51:51 > 0:51:55and at the back it's much taller and a luscious green.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57The rabbits have started on the outside here,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59they're nibbling their way through it,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03and if we don't stop them soon, the whole row will disappear.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08It's time to fortify the garden.
0:52:12 > 0:52:13That's rock-steady now.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16It doesn't look very rabbit-proof to me.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28Yeah, the rabbit can't get through it, can he?
0:52:30 > 0:52:32I think they're already planning their next attack.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39Just look at all these rabbits waiting to get in the garden.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54There's a problem in the Tudor bedroom.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56The muted colours of the frieze aren't working
0:52:56 > 0:52:59with the vivid ceiling.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02Russell's called in Anna to discuss what to do next.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Tell me about another one of your sleepless nights.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07Only a short sleepless night!
0:53:07 > 0:53:11When you did your research at Plas Mawr, we all thought,
0:53:11 > 0:53:13"Bright colours on the ceiling."
0:53:13 > 0:53:14Spectacular colours.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18And I'd always imagined that the bright colours would be so different
0:53:18 > 0:53:21that our frieze and our bright colours could operate together.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26And Grant's been working away at it, and we aren't sure.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30We've painted a few out, going, "Does it look better
0:53:30 > 0:53:33"if it's knocked back a bit?" but I feel like we need to change game.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36To be honest, I thought the frieze colours would be brighter,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39and therefore there wouldn't be that tension between
0:53:39 > 0:53:42what was on the ceiling and the frieze, which there is.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46It isn't quite the colours, I thought it would have been brighter.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49- It's what we got. - It's what we've got, and it's great.
0:53:49 > 0:53:50It's spectacular.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53But we don't want to undermine the brilliance of the frieze
0:53:53 > 0:53:57by having a kind of overstated ceiling, we want it to tie in.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00I have to take Grant out for a drink now and apologise to him!
0:54:00 > 0:54:02- And start again.- Oh, well.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09So it's agreed, we take the colours of the frieze up
0:54:09 > 0:54:11and the colours on the ceiling down.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16Poor old Grant. Russell certainly does owe him a drink.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Right. Yeah, that's done.
0:54:27 > 0:54:28Finished.
0:54:31 > 0:54:37Time for Lucy to pronounce judgment. Can we win her over this time?
0:54:43 > 0:54:44Wow.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I don't know. It's just a bit of a shame, really.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Simply because we've done the research,
0:54:50 > 0:54:55we've done the actual archaeology on the plasterwork itself,
0:54:55 > 0:54:57and it wasn't painted.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00This was never painted, and the ceilings weren't painted,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03so...it's a bit of a shame.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10Just checking on the fire now to see whether the fire can be tested.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12For as long as anyone can remember,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15there have been no open fires at Avebury.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18We want them in every room to bring the house back to life,
0:55:18 > 0:55:20but it's not looking hopeful.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25As you can see, it's full of twigs and bits and pieces.
0:55:26 > 0:55:31Most of the chimneys need lots of work to fix them.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37Above all, we want the kitchen fireplace to work for our range.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40Just disappear back out into the garden and have a look.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42At first, the signs are encouraging.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45At least the smoke is coming out of the chimney.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47And my torch has gone wrong!
0:55:49 > 0:55:52But it's the same story all over the house.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55It's going to cost too much to fix.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Now you know why I asked for those smoke alarms to be switched off.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00This won't take long to set them off!
0:56:00 > 0:56:04HE COUGHS
0:56:04 > 0:56:07And our dream of open fires goes up in smoke.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09That concludes all of them.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13Even so, we're not going to give up
0:56:13 > 0:56:16on our dream of a working kitchen range.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24Neville's back. What was a rusting hulk is now in tip-top order.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Steady, boys!
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Phew! It fits in perfectly.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Once again, a Wellstood range is back in Avebury Manor.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52But the final piece, and the most pleasure you get,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55is when you actually see these working.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58And it's a bit of a tradition amongst a few of us
0:56:58 > 0:57:03over the years, whenever we finish a job, we always have a fire.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Even though we're not really supposed to have one,
0:57:07 > 0:57:08we know the chimney works.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Neville, you really shouldn't.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14Look at that!
0:57:17 > 0:57:23To be able to have a fire, it's been a really great adventure.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26And if we stay here much longer, we'll be having dinner off it.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30Well, we haven't burned Avebury down yet.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Next time on The Manor Reborn...
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Silk weaving by royal appointment.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42Oh!
0:57:42 > 0:57:45Putting a sting back in the garden.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47We can't find the queen! I think she's done a runner.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER
0:57:49 > 0:57:51The rabbits strike back.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53Ha-ha! I got him!
0:57:55 > 0:57:58A slimy intruder gets in the way.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Crowning glory to our Queen Anne bed.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03- Oh!- It's certainly going to be impressive.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07Making carpets, Tudor style.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09- And pull.- Whoa!
0:58:10 > 0:58:13A call to arms for pots and pans.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17I'm not happy with this design.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Passions run high.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24And China, to make the most exquisite of wallpapers.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26This is just mind-blowing!
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:48 > 0:58:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk