Looking After Our History
Alnwick Castle is more than a historic building to explore. Behind the scenes, a dedicated Collections and Archives team works throughout the year to care for the castle, its interiors and thousands of historic objects.
Find out more about what it takes to care and conserve the castle and its Northumberland archives, with behind the scenes knowledge and insights from our Collections and Archives team.
Preserving Our Heritage
Conservation plays a vital role in protecting Alnwick Castle, its collections and archives, helping to preserve more than 900 years of history for future generations. From caring for the castle's historic fabric and interiors to documenting and preserving individual objects, our conservation work helps ensure that the stories of Alnwick Castle and Northumberland's heritage are not lost over time.
By carefully recording, maintaining and conserving the castle and its collections, we can continue to learn from the past while allowing visitors to experience and enjoy this remarkable part of Northumberland's history for generations to come.
Is it hard to protect historic buiildings?
Protecting historic buildings and the collections that call them home comes with a number of different challenges. Historic castles like Alnwick Castle that are open to the public can see detrimental impacts to some of their collections through accidental damage by visitors. For instance, visitors accidentally touching precious and delicate objects can have a negative impact on the look and structural integrity of an object. The damaging oils that are produced by our skin can be detrimental to the object(s) if gloves aren’t worn, especially delicate items like paper and textiles.
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to historic building conservation is controlling the humidity within the castle, as this can fluctuate at various points in the year. Excess moisture in the air can have a negative impact on a number of objects, speeding up deterioration, including tears in paper, discoloration, and cracking in wooden items. To combat this, the team uses a combination of dehumidifiers and heat to ensure that the humidity remains at the optimum level.
What tasks does a conservator undertake?
A conservator's role is varied, but at the heart of the Collections and Archives team at Alnwick Castle is the care and preservation of the castle and its historic objects.
Every object on display or in storage is catalogued, photographed and regularly cleaned, with its condition and history carefully recorded. Cleaning is an important part of conservation, with deeper cleaning usually carried out during the winter closure when there is more time to care for the collections.
The team works closely with the Household team to maintain daily, monthly and annual cleaning routines. While visitor areas are cleaned daily, items such as paintings and chandeliers receive more detailed annual cleaning.
For larger objects, such as chandeliers, conservation can be a highly detailed process. Scaffolding may be required to safely access objects at height, allowing the team to carefully dismantle, clean, repair and reassemble each piece. Similar care is taken with the castle's gilded ceilings, paintings, wood panelling and lighting, with surrounding furniture and objects protected throughout the process.
What issues do conservators manage?
The conservation of a historic building and its objects presents a wide variety of challenges due to the different materials said objects are made from, their design and structure, location and environment, as well as their age. Conservators manage and care for historic objects and buildings, keeping them safe from accidental damage, pests, pollution, thieves and vandals, incorrect temperature, incorrect humidity, or fire, to name just a few.
At Alnwick Castle, most of the Northumberland collection is used either by the family, or because it is exhibited for visitors to appreciate, so we must reduce risk of damage due to this usage.
Every time we handle historic objects, there is a risk of damaging them due to their fragile nature. With this in mind, the first rule in collections care is to avoid handling objects when it’s not necessary.
Controlling the rooms’ environment to ensure optimum conditions for preserving the objects and interiors can also be a challenge.
For instance, light damage is always a worry, which is why all of the castle's windows are fitted with UV filters. The blinds are also kept down until the very last minute before the doors are opened to visitors every morning.
What skills does a conservator need?
Conservators need a combination of practical, technical and organisational skills, as well as a strong understanding of historic buildings and collections. At Alnwick Castle, the role requires particular care and attention to detail, as the castle is both a historic building open to the public and the private family home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.
The team must be able to work carefully with a wide variety of materials and objects, from delicate textiles and paintings to large chandeliers and historic interiors. Patience, precision, problem-solving and an understanding of conservation techniques are all essential to protecting the castle
What is the best part of a conservators job at Alnwick Castle?
Not only is the castle a beautiful and spectacular place to work, but each day brings a new set of challenges and problems to solve with creative solutions, ensuring a future for the castle and its many objects.
Restoration At Alnwick Castle
At Alnwick Castle, we are very passionate about the restoration of historic buildings, and our most recent - and ongoing - project has been restoring the castle’s Great Kitchen.
The purpose of this four-year project is to unveil the past and share a significant part of the castle’s history with its visitors, as this part of the castle has never been accessible to the public. Some highlights visitors can look forward to seeing for themselves are the kitchen’s Victorian ovens and grand larder rooms, as well as learning all about the hydraulic technology and cutting-edge steam that was at the centre of Victorian innovation.
Discover The History of Alnwick Castle
Discover the history of Alnwick Castle and explore the collections and rooms first-hand by booking your tickets with us today!
If you’re planning your visit to the castle and want to know more about our upcoming events, head to our What’s On page.