Cliveden Conservation, one of England’s best known stone and conservation specialists, is becoming even more widely appreciated as it appears in a new BBC heritage series.

The first episode of Hidden Treasures of the National Trust was broadcast on BBC Two in the prime-time 9pm slot on 12 May. It is also available on BBC iPlayer.

During the series members of Cliveden Conservation’s team  explain the work involved in maintaining  some of the country’s most beautiful and historic buildings as the BBC goes behind the velvet ropes that normally block the public from entering.

The six-part series follows experts, including those from Cliveden Conservation, as they breathe new life into fragile marvels, uncover hidden stories, and strive to keep the past alive. 

In the first episode, Cliveden’s Douglas Carpenter is recorded making casts of 2,000-year-old fragile marble antiquities from the collection amassed by Victorian James Bateman at Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire. The facsimiles will be returned to the Geological Gallery where the originals were once displayed to remove the originals from any risk of damage.

The series is also showcasing stories of the gardens and landscapes within which these properties sit.

In another episode Cliveden is seen carrying out a condition survey and repairs to the masonry of a historic Venetian window at Ightham Mote in Kent.

Then it’s over to Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland where conservators reinstate the unique storm damaged sculptures on the Dodo Terrace.

All together members of the Cliveden team appear in four of the six episodes. 

Tom Flemons, a Director and conservator at Cliveden Conservation, who appears in the series, says: “Working with the film makers added a new dimension to our projects. It allowed us to step back and appreciate what a privilege it is to be involved with The National Trust’s treasures.”