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Whole day excursions
Here is the range of excursions we have arranged. There is a limit for each, so book now to ensure a place. You need to book for any one of these whole-day excursions by 1 July 2008. Accompanying persons are welcome to join these events. Numbers are limited: first come, first served. At National Trust properties a Trust conservator will be on hand to lead the tour.
We reserve the right to cancel any trip due to poor take up or other unforeseen circumstances.
Excursion 1: Petworth House and Uppark (The National Trust)
Transport will be by coach departing from the QEII Conference Centre. On arrival at Petworth, and after coffee, the group will enjoy private tours of the house and its collections. Following lunch, the coach will continue to Uppark, where tours will highlight the restoration of the property following a disastrous fire in 1989. At the end of the day, tour coaches will transport delegates to the V&A Museum in South Kensington, in time for the farewell reception.
Tours will be led by property staff, National Trust conservators and specialist Conservation Advisers. They will describe the history of each house, its housekeeping practices, and recent conservation projects. Tours will demonstrate how preventive conservation helps to achieve a sustainable balance between access today and preservation in perpetuity. Conservators will also outline plans to re-interpret the restoration of Uppark and preserve its architectural fragments, now in storage at Petworth.
Numbers are limited to 50 participants, spouse/partner welcome. A National Trust touring pass (provided to all Congress delegates) is essential for entry to both houses.
Cost: £46 per person, including transport, refreshments, entrance and specialist guides.
The vast late 17th-century mansion is set in a beautiful 283-hectare deer park, landscaped by 'Capability' Brown and immortalised in paintings by JMW Turner. The house contains the Trust's finest collection of pictures, with numerous works by Turner, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Blake. The state rooms also display ancient and neo-classical sculpture, fine furniture and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The Servants' Quarters include fascinating kitchens with a splendid copper batterie de cuisine of more than 1,000 pieces.
Uppark: a tranquil and intimate 18th-century house.
This gem on the South Downs was rescued after a major fire in 1989. Uppark houses an elegant Georgian interior with a famous Grand Tour collection including paintings, furniture and ceramics. One of the highlights is an 18th-century doll's-house with original contents. The complete servants' quarters in the basement illustrate life in the 19th century when the housekeeper was H. G. Wells' mother. The beautiful and peaceful garden is now fully restored in the early 19th-century Picturesque style. Uppark is located in a downland and woodland setting, and provides magnificent panoramic views to the sea.
Excursion 2: Knole and Scotney Castle (The National Trust)
Transport will be by coach departing from the the QEII Conference Centre. On arrival at Knole, the group will divide, with half staying at Knole while the rest proceed to Scotney Castle. At lunch time, the groups will swap locations, allowing everyone to visit both properties. At the end of the day, tour coaches will transport delegates to the V&A Museum in South Kensington, in time for the farewell reception.
At each house, you will be welcomed with a brief introduction to its history and significance and an outline of current preventive and remedial conservation programmes. Access will be in groups of 8-10 people, led by a National Trust Curator, Conservator or specialist Conservation Adviser. Tour leaders will highlight current strategies to improve collections care, and methods of achieving a sustainable balance between access today and preservation in perpetuity.
Numbers are limited to 50 participants, spouse/partner welcome. A National Trust touring pass (provided to all Congress delegates) is essential for entry to both houses.
Cost: £37 per person, including transport, packed lunch, entrance and specialist guides.
Set within a glorious deer park, Knole appears much like a small village when viewed from a distance. It is a complex and beautiful house, which has links with kings, queens and nobility, as well as literary connections with Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. Thirteen superb state rooms are laid out much as they were in the 18th century, to impress visitors with the wealth and standing of the Sackville family (who still live at Knole today). The house boasts a world-renowned 17c collection of Royal Stuart furniture and textiles, paintings by Gainsborough, Van Dyck and Reynolds, as well as important 17c tapestries.
Conservation challenges at Knole are complex, with significant investments in skills and technology now required to control the damp environment, reduce exposure to light, consolidate fragile textiles, and minimise continuing wear caused by visitor access.
Scotney Castle was home to the Hussey family from the late 18th century. In 1835 Edward Hussey III, who took the Picturesque style as his inspiration, commissioned eminent architect Anthony Salvin to design a new country house in an Elizabethan style.
The house is being opened to visitors in stages over five years, with selected rooms open this year, illustrating how furnishing styles evolved to accommodate three generations of a family and modern life. The celebrated gardens, designed around the ruins of a 14th-century moated castle, feature spectacular displays of wisteria and roses rambling over the ruins, trees and ferns. There are fine walks with wonderful vistas and views.
Excursion 3: Kew Herbarium and Library, Royal Palace and National Archives
Numbers are limited to 40 participants, spouse/partner welcome.
Cost: £26 per person, price includes lunch, entrance and specialist guides. Transport cost not included (approximate cost £ 8.00).
Register by 1st July 2008.
Visit a unique World Heritage Site, Royal Palace and National Archives all in one day!
Transport to Kew will be by London Underground. Tours have been arranged by specialist conservation and curatorial staff. The visit will include tours of the Herbarium and Library, Kew Palace and the National Archives. Lunch will be taken in one of the Garden Restaurants. There will also be (limited) free time for delegates to explore the beautiful gardens for themselves.
Kew Gardens: World Heritage Site and home to the world's largest collection of living plants
Under George III's father, Frederick Prince of Wales, Kew grew from a modest pleasure garden to a centre for botanical research and new ideas about landscape gardening. The living plant collection now contains over 40,000 different species. Kew's seven magnificent glasshouses, including the famous Palm House, display rare and unusual plants from across the world.
Kew Herbarium: Housing the largest collection of historical plant specimens in the world
This eighteenth-century building was originally named Hunter House and was occupied by the King of Hanover until his death in 1851. In 1853, the Herbarium and Library were founded here. There are currently over 7,000,000 specimens in the Herbarium, representing nearly ninety eight per cent of all of the genera in the world.
The Library, Art & Archives at Kew form one of the largest collections in the world relating to botany.
Kew Palace: Family country home of King George III
Kew Palace was the family country home of King George III and Queen Charlotte between 1800 and 1818 and is all that remains of a group of buildings that comprised the extensive royal residence at Kew. This small, elegant and intimate building was one of the places the King convalesced during his illness. Visitors will experience life as it was for George III and his family, and walk through several rooms restored to the exact condition they would have been 200 years ago.
The National Archives: Official archive for England, Wales and central UK government
Containing 900 years of history from Domesday Book to the present, with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to recently created digital files and archived websites. The National Archives has one of the largest Collection Care departments in the UK. The Collection Care department is responsible for the long-term preservation of The National Archives collection. Collection Care includes three sections: Preservation, Conservation and Conservation Research.
Excursion 4: Chatham Historic Dockyard
The Historic Dockyard, Chatham: 400 years of naval history
Chatham is the world's most complete example of an Historic Dockyard from the age of sail - a time when Dockyards were the industrial centres of Europe. It played a vital role supporting the Royal Navy for over 400 years; for example Nelson's flagship Victory was built there.
It is now in the care of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, which collects, preserves, studies and exhibits objects and material connected with the history of:
- The people who worked in, or were associated with, Chatham Dockyard
- The development of Royal Navy warship design and construction
- The Royal Navy's use of the River Medway and its role in the development of the Medway area
During the visit there will be a chance to see:
- Three full-size ships and a submarine together with exhibitions on shipbuilding and other subjects
- The new joint large object store with the Royal Engineers Museum - the BIG store
- The new Ropery gallery due to open in September
- A demonstration of rope-making in the Rope Walk(provisional)
- A visit to the Conservation Facilities to meet the conservator
The cost is £29, to cover travel by coach, entrance and lunch.
Numbers are limited to 40 people to allow visits to the conservation facilities.