BLICKLING HALL LIBRARY CONSERVATION: BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT

HERITAGE DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT

JUNE 2018

BROADLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL 17 July 2018 20181176 PLANNING CONTROL Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Contents

Introduction ...... 2 List Description...... 4 History ...... 5 Library Components ...... 7 Statement of Significance ...... 9 Investigations and Reports ...... 13 Heritage Impact Assessment ...... 16 Appendices ...... 23

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Introduction

This document has been prepared in support of a Listed Building Consent application requesting consent for proposed conservation works to the building fabric and environment of the Library (Long Gallery) and Northeast Turret at Blickling Hall.

The key aims of the conservation project are to conserve the building, to prevent ongoing damage to the collections, fixing the leaks, preventing mould growth, slowing the damage being caused by pest and death watch beetle and creating the right environmental conditions for temperature and humidity that the collections need.

Key conservation repairs have been identified to stabilise the loss/ damage from environmental control and pests and these include the following proposals:

a. Repair/replace of leaking sections of rainwater downpipes to the north wall of the library. b. Works to North End attic lintel: - Remedial repairs to brickwork structure above window bay in order to stabilise structural movement as recommended by the structural engineer Alan Wright - Carefully dismantle masonry including stone balusters to north wall bay window; strip out leadwork coverings to allow access to the outer timber lintel/structure to ascertain cause of elevated deep moisture content to timber lintels; investigate condition of lintels and - Inspection of timber lintels from below and isolate timberwork from masonry. c. Maintenance of good environmental conditions within the Library; conservation heating improvement by supplementing the existing heating system with additional heat emitters in order to even out the distribution of heat d. Introduction of insulation panels (to follow from Library Press Trial Meeting recommendations), insulation to site directly behind books within the presses to the east and west. North presses are to be temporarily moved to allow void behind to be insulated. e. Address death watch beetle (DWB) activity in the NE turret – allow drying out of the NE Turret fabric; draught seal opening casement windows and access door to upper turret floors; reinstate roof hatch; seal perimeter of the first floor turret ceiling to prevent access of beetles to the Library and allow for regular pest treatment programme; install dehumidifier to control relative humidity levels and internal environment. f. Undertake principal structural works to attic, NE turret and library interiors to stabilise structure, loss and risk. Make good and decorate on completion. g. Undertake repair works to NE turret lath and plaster ceilings. h. Undertake conservation works to the NE turret floorboards i. Exterior repairs to the NE Turret which are influencing DWB activity. ie. repointing work, holding repairs to the defective leadwork to the turret roof. j. Exterior repairs to the east ranges gable statues; stabilise, clean and sheltercoat. k. Undertake bat access works

Details of investigations, trials and analysis that represent a significant body of research which have both informed and underpin the proposals are summarised in the following sections under the headings:

• Environmental Survey and Monitoring of the Library and Analysis of Environmental Test Results - Final Report Dec 2016 Tobit Curtis Associates

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

• Investigation of Timber Decay in the Long Gallery (Library) and North-East Turret at Blickling Hall - Feb 2016 Hutton and Rostron • Environmental Survey and Monitoring of the Library and Analysis of Environmental Test Results - Final Report Dec 2016 Tobit Curtis Associates • Investigation of Timber Decay in Attic at Blickling Hall : Aug 2016 Hutton and Rostron • Blickling Hall : Condition Report on Library Ceiling and North East Turret Ceiling and Wall - Sept 2017 Cliveden Conservation • Blickling Hall : Rooftop Statutory Survey - Dec 2017 Cliveden Conservation • Blickling Hall, Library Floor and North East Turret Visual Structural Appraisal Report - Mar 2016 Wright Consulting • Blickling Hall Library : Conservation and Environment – Conservation Repair Recommendations - Dec 2016 Caroe Architecture Limited • Blickling Library : Conservation Management Plan – June 2017 Caroe Architecture Limited

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

List Description

National Heritage List for England, List Entry No. 1372692

Blickling Hall (Grade I listed) is a stately home which is part of the Blickling Estate. It is located in the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England and has been in the care of the National Trust since 1940. The library at Blickling Estate contains one of the most historically significant collections of manuscripts and books in England.

The estate covers 4,777 acres and includes: 500 acres of woodland, 450 acres of parkland and 3,500 acres of farmland. Much of it is classified as Grade 2 and 3 agricultural land which is actively managed by the National Trust to provide income to support the house, gardens, park and woods. The estate is listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING: Blickling Hall (listed grade I) is a moated red-brick country house with a seven- bay front and square corner turrets which stands in the south-east corner of a substantial park. It is arranged in a double courtyard, with the entrance via a bridge over the dry moat on the south front. Above the entrance porch is a painted timber-clad clock tower. Service ranges (listed grade I) flank the south drive to east and west. The west range is now (1999) used as the National Trust's Regional Office and the east range houses visitor facilities. Between 1765 and 1785 the north and west facades were remodelled, while in 1864 further alterations were made to the west front. The service ranges date from c 1620, extensively rebuilt behind their facades in the late C19. The moat has been dry since the mid C17 and from at least the 1670s has been planted as a garden.

GARDENS AND GROUNDS: The gardens and pleasure grounds cover c 18ha, mainly lying to the east of the Hall. To the south is a gravelled forecourt beyond which lies the lawn and yew hedge. To the west is a small area of wild garden, with a central shell fountain. To the north, the gravel path which runs all around the outside of the moat is bordered by a lawn which extends towards the lake. On the east front lies the parterre. This garden is surrounded to east and south by retaining walls (listed grade II) topped by gravel paths and borders, and to the north by a high yew hedge beyond which lies a raised lawn with Chinese plane tree. The parterre is divided by gravel walks into areas of lawn decorated with clipped yew scrolls and topiary, and large square herbaceous beds. The whole is decorated with urns (listed grade II) and a late C16 central fountain.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

History

The Blickling Estate, encompassing around 2,000 hectares (4,760 acres) consists of gently rolling wooded and arable land that adjoins the northern edge of the Norfolk market town of Aylsham. At its centre is Blickling Hall (Grade I), flanked by two service wings (Grade I). The Library is located on the first floor of the house at the northern extent of the east range. The room, as noted, was originally an early seventeenth-century Long Gallery, and is of monumental scale (37.5m long x 6.5m wide) and is enclosed by external brickwork walls.

The Library was created in the 17th century during the extensive remodelling of Blickling Hall for Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Bart, the Long Gallery was furnished with one of the most elaborate and accomplished decorative plaster ceilings of its age. It is one of six Jacobean ceilings to survive within the house and by far the most sumptuous. Despite later interventions, the scale and form of the room continues to provoke the awe its 17th-century designer sought to conjure.

It was re-fashioned as a Library in the mid-18th century, though it still retains the impressive scale, form, fenestration and planning of the earlier room. The books were housed within classical bookcases created exclusively in order to house a newly acquired collection of some 10,000 books collected by Sir Richard Ellys who was a second cousin of Blickling’s owner of the time.

Remarkable too is a mid-19th century programme of decoration and fitting out of the Library undertaken for the 8th Marquis of Lothian by the decorative artist J. H. Pollen. The scheme is the principal survivor of the work undertaken by the 8th Marquis at Blickling, which elsewhere in the house was largely destroyed in the 1930s. The Victorian decorative scheme was removed by the 11th Marquis of Lothian in the 1930s including the removal of a substantial marble chimneypiece.

With over 12,500 books, the library collection at Blickling Hall is the largest and most magnificent library in the ownership of the National Trust. With the finest collection of early printed books from the 15th and 16th centuries and manuscripts dating back to the 12th century, it is of international significance. It is almost all the work of Sir Richard Ellys ( c. 1688-1742), and is a miraculous survival of the collection of this wealthy bibliophile scholar and an early example of such a collection. While other famous collections of the period have been broken up and dispersed, only a handful of books have been lost from the library now at Blickling, secure in the care of the National Trust.

Ellys had wide-ranging interests and the books reflect this, both in subject matter, provenance, printing and binding and he certainly had an eye for beautiful books, buying copies of the utmost rarity and beauty, many from famous earlier libraries, as well as the more mundane books of a working scholar, and everything in between. It has examples of the highest quality manuscripts and printed books, as well as cheaply-made pamphlets; some of the books are in finely decorated bindings, others in simple paper covers. It even has books in unbound sheets, as Ellys bought them, still waiting to be bound.

With books printed or written in almost every European country, even from America, it has brought the world as it was known in 1742, the year of Ellys’s death, to a quiet corner of Norfolk. That it has stayed together and almost completely intact since then is as remarkable as the Library itself.

Historically, the book collection was managed by a librarian. Today, a digital inventory is being prepared. Approximately 5,000 of the 10,000 books forming the Ellys collection have been

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catalogued to date. As in the past, the collection is available for use by scholars, though there are no dedicated facilities or administrative staff to facilitate and supervise access. A rolling programme of book cleaning and monitoring is currently being undertaken by volunteers, together with the ongoing cataloguing and research programme.

One of the critical issues is the Library’s environmental condition, including the ingress of moisture. The age and settlement of the building has affected the external fabric of the room, particularly the windows, allowing water ingress and condensation which have led to outbreaks of mould. Insect infestation has also affected both fabric and contents, particularly the book collection as a result of the poor environmental conditions within the room.

The overall ensemble of this Library is layered; there is no single golden age surviving intact but important elements from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are all immediately apparent to the visitor.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Library Components

Roof : The Library has an attic space above with a pitched roof, the roofs are plain tiled and pantiled with lead domes to corner turrets. The four bay windows of the of the Library have leaded roofs. The east slope of the pitched roof was re-roofed by Gooch in the 1960s works where he introduced a felt lining and reused some of the original roof tiles which are now failing. On the west slope the roof tiles are torched in place and there are many areas where the tiles are slipped and/ or missing.

Windows: The room is well lit with six stone mullion and transom windows along its eastern side and a further window at the south end of the room. Four of the windows, including the southernmost, are set within bays surmounted by flat, lead-clad roofs, two of the projecting bays are canted. Opening lights within the mullion and transom windows are provided by wooden framed casements, the glazing of which is secured by lead cames. Within the upper lights of the north window are six stained glass panels executed in 1861 by Powells of Whitefriars, London, which are an integral part of Pollen’s design for the Library. These are of ‘Broad Glass’ an early form of mouth-blown cylinder glass which gave an imperfect undulating finish.

Approach: One enters the Library from the main hall, ascending the richly decorated Great Staircase to the more modest Upper Ante-room (where the Jacobean stair was located). The staircase is almost square in plan with a balustrade of oak with carved standards crowned with symbolic figures. This approach serves to enhance the dramatic moment of entering the Library.

Ceiling and Frieze: Extending the full length of the Library is an elaborately decorated lath and plaster ceiling and below this a plaster cornice. Both ceiling and cornice are made up of run, moulded and sculptured components. This was created by London plasterer Edward Stanyon, who created three other important ceilings in the house, the Long Gallery being the most significant for its scale, symbolism and intricacy.

Below the cornice is a figurative mural designed by pre-Raphaelite associate John Hungerford Pollen that extends around the entirety of the room. Dating from the 1860s refit of the Library by the 8th Marquess of Lothian, the mural of a spirit fresco type, is directly applied to plaster panels inset into a timber frame . Sections of the timber frame, where revealed, show evidence of a decorative finish of pale grey paint.

Interior fittings: All but the northern wall of the room is lined with oak book presses each with between six and eight shelves. These again were designed by J.H.Pollen and date from the mid- nineteenth-century refit of the Library although are thought to have incorporated elements of an earlier construction.

Originally the rear of the book presses abutted the exposed brickwork walls of the room but in 1986 the presses were brought forward by the National Trust to provide ventilation between the wall and the rear of the presses for conservation reasons and to enable replacement grilles to be fitted to their fronts.

There is a painted softwood bolection-moulded fire surround (in a late seventeenth-century style), decorated to simulate marble, with a tapestry hung above. The surround was fitted in the 1970s in an intriguing compromise by the National Trust to cover the exposed brickwork left by the succession of fire surrounds .The most notable was an elaborate marble hood chimneypiece

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

designed by Pollen for the Library in around 1860 which was removed in the 1930s. The doors within the room are painted hardwood of six panels, with brass door furniture. Both doors and door furniture probably date from the mid-eighteenth century.

The Floor: The Library floor is approximately 36m x 6.5m, spanning several rooms at ground floor level within its footprint. The principal beams span from east to west between the external eastern wall and the mostly internal western wall. There are ten principal beams along the length of the Library, typically spaced at 3.6m centres (variable) and sized at between 430 to 340mm wide x 300mm deep. The secondary beams which are generally sized at 250mm wide x 280mm deep span between the principal beams in a north-south direction.

Alan Wright in his ‘Structural Appraisal Report’ notes that these secondary beams are ‘staggered where supported on the principal beams approximately centrally in their span. Typically, the connection between the principal and secondary beams was formed with a bespoke mortice and tenon joint, often located with a peg or wedge...tertiary joists span in an east-west direction between the secondary beams and the longitudinal east and west walls. These joists were typically sized at 300mm deep x 65mm wide and positioned at between 420mm and 300mm centre to centre.’ 1

The floor boards within the room are of pine, joined by metal biscuit tongue and groove fixings. The floor boards at the edge of the room are decorated with a foliate design picked out in a dark stain. Part of the design is obscured as a result of bringing forward the book presses by the National Trust in 1986.

1 Wright Consulting, Blickling Hall, Library Floor & North-East Turret Visual Structural Appraisal Report, March 2016

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Statement of Significance

Introduction In the preceding section of this report, the history, development and components that comprise Blickling Library have been unpacked. This Significance section takes the next step to articulate just why the room and its collection is of significance, what this significance relates to and how it can be assessed on a local, national and international level. Firstly, a Statement of Significance for the room is established and then the collection is assessed separately.

The Basis of Assessment The assessment of significance reflects the cultural aspects of the Library, and provides a framework for significance to be considered within the frame of the Blickling estate in a wider context. This assessment follows the approach set out in ‘English Heritage Conservation Principles, Policy and Guidance’ (paragraphs 30-60), with the basis of significance related to the family of heritage values set out in that document. The significance of the Library is therefore considered in terms of its evidential, historical, aesthetic and communal value, as outlined below:

Evidential value derives from the potential of the site to provide evidence of past human activity. The archaeological research and its potential capacity to respond to investigative analysis make a primary contribution to evidential value. Historical value derives from the way in which historical figures, events and aspects of life can be connected through a place to the present. This includes associative, illustrative and representational value, and encompasses among other things, rarity or survival, the extent of associated documentation, the ability to characterise a period and association with other monuments. Aesthetic value derives from the way in which people draw sensory and intellectual stimulation from a place. This includes not only formal visual and aesthetic qualities arising from design for a particular purpose, but more fortuitous relationships of visual elements arising from the development of the place through time, and aesthetic values associated with the actions of nature. Communal value is vital to the significance, at the heart of which are the many layered meanings that a place may hold in contemporary society. Commemorative and symbolic values are founded in collective memory and identity, and social value can also derive from the contemporary uses of a place.

The degree of significance of the Library and the contribution made by each of these heritage values will be outlined according to the following scale:

Exceptional is used to define areas or aspects considered to be of international importance or value or elements which have great significance in the context of the place itself, making a major contribution to the completeness or representative value of any aspect of the property or significantly enhancing our understanding of a particular historic function or purpose. High is used to define areas or aspects considered to be of national importance or value, or features which make a considerable contribution to the character and understanding of the place. Some is used to define areas or aspects considered to be of local importance or value or elements which contribute in general terms to the overall character or understanding of the property.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Neutral is used to define areas or aspects considered to be neutral in value; they have little significance in promoting understanding or appreciation, without being actually intrusive Detracting is used to define areas or aspects that are considered to have a negative value or are intrusive to the significance of the whole.

Overall Statement of Significance The Library at Blickling has an immediate quality of scale and grandeur, which communicates visually the historical and aesthetic significance of the library as a collection of books (dating from the 18th century) and the room as a feature of an ambitious country house (dating from the 17th century), designed by Robert Lyminge, the same carpenter-surveyor who designed Hatfield House. The international significance of this room and collection is recognised in the Grade I designation of the Hall.

SPECIFIC HERITAGE VALUES

Evidential Value - High & Exceptional The Library at Blickling Hall encapsulates and evidences the changing values and expectations of the country house owner and politician. The alterations evident in its fabric, decoration and fitting, and the evidence of the earlier building are of HIGH significance.

The history and development of the room is fairly well documented and there is potential that further investigation of the fabric and the Trust archives may reveal more about the development of the building. This potential for further elucidation contributes to the HIGH evidential value. The collection may similarly be regarded as having a considerable capacity to provide further historical understanding which may be considered here as an exceptional ‘academic value’. As it has been established in the previous section of this report and in Purcell’s Survey of the collection, there is potential for content of the manuscripts, books and pamphlets to have a marked impact on academic research in specific fields such as the English Civil War.

Historical Value - Exceptional The Library at Blickling Hall, built as a Long Gallery and refashioned as a library for an internationally significant book collection in the 1740s, is as a whole of EXCEPTIONAL historical value. The survival of built fabric and decorative schemes is good despite some interventions and most significantly the original atmosphere intended by Sir Henry Hobart in 1620 is still palpable today.

The alterations made to this room were carried out in distinctive phases over four centuries; that these layers come together to form the room that we see today adds to the historical interest of the Library - no one phase was entirely obliterated and the layers are all revealing of the past. Like many such rooms and their collections, the Library is of HIGH significance to visitors and academics alike for the way it charts the history of taste and provides tangible evidence of how life was lived through four centuries: morality as represented in the 17th-century emblems within the ceiling; politics as demonstrated by the 18th-century portraits; veneration of the ancient world as seen in Hayman’s paintings, the innovative rare and unusual techniques and aesthetic of Pollen’s decoration, but above all, the human thirst for knowledge and understanding of the world they live in. The Library and its collection is of HIGH significance for the contribution it makes to understanding Blickling Hall, its people and the spirit of place.

The book collection is also of EXCEPTIONAL historical value and remains mostly intact in the historic room devoted to housing that collection, despite alterations in the mid nineteenth-century. The

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appreciation of the significance of the rarity of this collection has long endured with Shaw noting in 1839 that ‘many of these books are very curious, and extremely valuable for their rarity’. 2

There is a great variety of subject matter covered in the library collection but it has been noted that some of the most significant for their historical value is that concerned with political affairs. In this regard the library is the most extensive in the area, with tracts by A.A Cooper the Early of Shaftesbury, Sir Richard Steele, the Earls of Bath and Bolingbroke and seventeenth century petitions to Charles I, Charles II and Oliver Cromwell. These are several of the associative values that contribute to the historical value of the Library.

Aesthetic Value - Exceptional The Library at Blickling Hall has a physical presence of rich artistic character, and even without detailed knowledge of its story, it impresses, as intended, by scale, richness of decoration, especially in the plasterwork ceiling and painted frieze, and the large windows. The design significance of the ceiling (by an important seventeenth-century craftsman) and the unusual quality of the nineteenth- century book-cases and frieze (by two leading nineteenth-century designers), put this unusual room in an important category on the level of major libraries in any country house, and therefore is of EXCEPTIONAL/HIGH aesthetic value.

Items in the book collection are also of EXCEPTIONAL aesthetic value; individual works as tactile beautiful objects in their own right where the turning of a page is a revelation and the images within, often hand-coloured, are works of art in their own right. Aesthetic value is also derived from the collection as a whole, the bound volumes arranged historically in particular and striking groupings not only by subject matter but by the aesthetic impact.

Communal Value - High The Library at Blickling Hall was is a remarkable survival in its own right and also through its connection with the man who developed the idea of the country houses scheme for the Trust. The room and its collection have been held in the interest of the nation and have been in the hands of the trust since 1942, and visited by the public since 1962. This represents a longer tenure than some historical owners and occupiers of the property and is therefore a significant part of the shared history and experience of this place. This enables the significance of the whole to be made more accessible to all and ensures its protection for posterity.

For those that clean, repair, write about and catalogue the collection it is an ongoing task that provides satisfaction and delight and the chance, on opening a book, of an exciting discovery. It is also, to some, a privilege to hold something so fragile and envisage the way others many centuries earlier appreciated, or not, the book in perhaps quite a different way. It is of SOME significance as a place of employment, volunteering and social interchange, for the community that work here. Given the significance of the Library collection, this room is a particular focus for many staff members who undertake work to unpack and reveal its hidden stories.

Most tangible perhaps is the HIGH communal value of the Library as part of the experience that members of the public have on visiting the Blickling estate. The Hall is an asset open year round for all to visit and appreciate on different levels. As visitor numbers rise and their demographic changes, the particular interest and appreciation of the Library is likely to shift. In an increasingly digital age,

2 Henry Shaw, 1839 ‘Details of Elizabethan Architecture’, p.53

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

bound volumes are no longer the primary means of accessing knowledge, however this may result in a keener interest in the rarity of this collection.

The collection is of HIGH communal significance for its educational capacity which has been made more accessible under the Trust’s ownership by creating relationships and loan agreements with other institutions and for enabling visiting scholars to access the collection by prior arrangement. The access to the collection must always be balanced against the conservation and security needs. Perhaps to some the lack of immediate physical access to the books gives the collection an exclusivity or veneration but most visitors understand the reasons for the restricted physical access. The communication of conservation and cataloguing processes and techniques has become an interesting and increasingly important way of engaging visitors during the Trust’s tenure, allowing moments where the materiality and content of the books can be appreciated.The communal value may be enhanced by increasing intellectual access to the collection.

The heritage value of these objects is in their ability to bring otherwise hidden stories about the past to life; it is the collective potential of the collection to educate and inspire that is particularly distinctive.

The communal value of the Library and collection is of HIGH significance.

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Investigations and Reports a. Environmental Survey and Monitoring of the Library and Analysis of Environmental Test Results - Final Report Dec 2016 Tobit Curtis Associates

The large and significant library collection at Blickling Hall has suffered from periodic microbiological attack over many years. This has often been associated with deleterious environmental conditions resulting from rainwater ingress due to failure of the building envelope or rainwater goods. In recent years, repairs have controlled most of the penetration and the worst outbreaks of mould. Nevertheless, depending on the microclimate, mould growth has continued to occur periodically in some areas.

The environmental survey and monitoring programme has shown that there is a small but clear gradient between conditions in the body of the library and those behind the books (where most mould growth occurs) with those behind the book presses adjacent to the brick wall. This is most significant in the winter months when radiant heat loss via the external walls causes a reduction in air temperature behind the books and a consequent increase in relative humidity, encouraging microbiological activity.

Three tests were undertaken to evaluate different methods of improving the thermal performance of the backboard and to thereby reduce the influence of radiant heat loss through the external wall on the air temperature immediately behind the books, which in turn could maintain the RH at a slightly lower level, at which level the risk of mould growth should be reduced.

Of the tests undertaken, the use of heating behind a book press was found to encourage increased airflow which was then thought to have increased thermal buffering in the interspace. However, airflow monitoring indicated that air movement already occurred through the space and, therefore, while the heat input will have increased this, it is likely that significant airflow buffering was already taking place.

Indeed, the physical space occupied by the heating strip installation restricted air movement here as compared to the adjacent interspace. Moreover, the nature of the heating (which was altered from the original design) also produced a slight radiant heating effect which, although helping to bring down the RH behind the books, could, in the longer term, have a deleterious effect.

Insulating panels of wood pulp board, placed within a book press and behind the backboard of another press, produced small but significant improvements in thermal buffering, particularly in the winter months. This helped to maintain an air temperature behind the books that was closer to ambient conditions and thereby limited the rise in RH during the coldest months in the year.

Of the three thermal trials, the active mechanical system was the most costly to install and maintain, and had the highest risk of failure, not to mention posing a potential fire risk. By contrast, the insulation boards were passive, robust and comparatively low cost. There was little to distinguish between the two passive approaches in terms of efficacy, but the use of panels within the book presses clearly had advantages in terms of installation costs, and helped to maintain wider air gaps behind the book presses as well as being 100% reversible.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

b. Investigation of Timber Decay in the Long Gallery (Library) and North-East Turret at Blickling Hall - February 2016 Hutton and Rostron

The aim of this investigation was to identify damp and timber decay problems and to give recommendations on any remedial works required to correct such problems and prevent damp or decay problems in the future using environmental means. c. Investigation of Timber Decay in Attic at Blickling Hall - August 2016 Hutton and Rostron

The aim of this investigation was to identify damp and timber decay problems and to give recommendations on any remedial works required to correct such problems and prevent damp or decay problems in the future.

d. Blickling Hall - Condition Report on Library Ceiling and North East Turret Ceiling and Wall - September 2017 Cliveden Conservation

A detailed inspection and survey was made of Library Ceiling and NE Turret ceiling and walls in June 2017. The purpose of this was to assess the condition and conservation requirements of these areas. The survey was commissioned due to concerns over cracking, infestation of wood boring insects, and imminent repairs that where due to be carried out. Structure and the plaster decoration layer of the ceiling where looked at, as well as proximity to dampness on the walls and from the roof.

This report provides a detailed fabric survey and diagnosis report on the condition of the Library Ceiling and NE Turret and a broad outline of conservation recommendations.

Within the NE Turret it was noted that the rooms have been subjected to high levels of damp for a sustained period. The effects of this were shown in decay of floorboards at the perimeters of the room, rot and infestation in wood framing on the walls and to the ceiling Deathwatch beetle throughout the lathing. To the first-floor ceiling it was recorded that the Deathwatch beetle activity was more severe to the north side of the turret. The structural support of the ceilings appears to be inadequate. The floor joists also support the lath and plaster forming the ceiling below, the joists are of small size and could flex if overloaded.

e. Blickling Hall - Rooftop Statutory Survey - December 2017 Cliveden Conservation

To each elevation on Blickling Hall there are bays with arched gables, these gables have stone copings with decorative keystone. These consist of small statues or carved finials in a Jacobean style. There are five standing statues on the keystones five on the east façade.

The general condition of all statues is weathered and have variable degrees of erosion and defects. Some have lost a large extent of their original detail and have fractures and open joints. The actual stability of the statues could not be determined. On the east elevation in 2016 a small amount of force was applied to check that the statues did not move easily, large amounts of pressure were not exerted as no provision was in place whilst carrying out the survey to stabilise or remove the statues if found to be loose.

In April 2009 Cliveden Conservation carried out an inspection by binoculars of the rooftop statuary and later from a Mobile Elevated Working Platform (MWEP) at 1st floor window level. The inspection was to assess possible conservation requirements of rooftop statuary. Each item of

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statuary was surveyed for condition and stability ratings. The report produced provided an initial overview on the condition of the rooftop statuary and a broad outline of conservation recommendations, with budget costs.

During 2016 a photographic inspection of the statues to the east elevation at roof level from a MEWP was undertaken. This report has been produced using the original survey information from 2009 and the photographic survey of 2016. It provides a detailed report of the current condition of the statues on the east elevation and any deterioration that can be determined. In addition, it will provide the National Trust with recommended conservation work.

f. Blickling Hall, Library Floor and North East Turret Visual Structural Appraisal Report - March 2016 Wright Consulting

Wright Consulting undertook a Visual Structural Appraisal of the Library Floor and North-East Turret construction as part of a programme of repairs to Blickling Hall. To this end opening up works were undertaken in the First Floor Library, Attic Room over the Library and the North-East Turret of Blickling Hall. This Report documents the findings of this opening up works and makes recommendations for repairs included in the Structural Specification and Schedule of Works. g. Blickling Hall Library : Conservation and Environment – Conservation Repair Recommendations - December 2016 Caroe Architecture Limited

Following detailed surveys and investigations of the Library, the attic spaces above, the roof and the North East Turret the condition and performance of the exterior building fabric and interior environment was assessed. A recommendation for the adoption of a phased approach to the necessary conservation and repair works was made.

In the majority of cases identified, it was considered that in the short to medium term the conservation risks to the Library and its environment can be managed id suitable mitigation measures are put in place. These measures will address those conservation risks that are of immediate concern and will form the basis of the PART 1 conservation works intended to safeguard and hold the building in the short term. These are identified as critical works which cannot wait, these present themselves as a high risk in both in terms of conservation and health and safety.

The extent of repairs required to the exterior of the building reflects a considerable amount of backlog priority repairs. These works coupled with addressing the core project aims will form the basis of PART 2 conservation works. These works will be packaged into later phases work.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Heritage Impact Assessment

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires that the significance of heritage assets affected by a proposal should be understood and described and that the level of detail should be proportionate to the assets’ importance, and sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on their significance.

The primary purpose of this HIA is to summarise and review the proposals with reference to the evaluation of significance provided in the Heritage Statement.

Each aspect of the proposal is given an appraisal of the heritage impact using the following basis of assessment:

Positive heritage impact - considered to have a positive impact on the heritage values and overall significance e.g. by addressing an issue or feature assessed as detracting from significance. Neutral heritage impact - considered to have no positive or negative impact on the heritage values and overall significance. Some heritage impact - considered to have moderate negative impact on the heritage values and overall significance. High heritage impact - considered to be of detrimental impact on the heritage values and overall significance.

In summary it is proposed to undertake the following works, ( a detailed schedule of work is included with the Appendices) which are discussed and their impact evaluated:

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference External Works Roofs NE Turret Replace defective (split) Photos: Positive heritage impact . leadwork. IMG-3198 IMG-3198 Install 1no. Dw gs: Some heritage impact; the bat 300x120x20mm sawn PR410 access board may be visible oak board to west PR502 when the west return elevation elevation eaves to PR113 of the turret eaves is viewed provide a landing from an oblique angle. The platform for bats to primary elevation viewed by the enter the roof space. public is the east elevation and to a lesser degree the north elevation. The access board is required to allow us to maintain bat access to roof after the internal roof hatch is reinstated for environmental control purposes.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference Redecorate timber IMG -2807 Positive heritage impact cornice with new IMG-3200 external oil based paint to match existing. Library Roofs Refix/replace a nominal Positive heritage impact number of slipped or missing roof tiles with new handmade clay tiles to match existing. Peter the Great Undertake holding Neutral Heritage impact. Roof repairs to defective leadwork using proprietary liquid repair system. Rainwater Goods No rth elevation Dismantle 2no. lead Dwg: Positive heritage impact downpipes either side PR411 of bay window. Inspect for damage and or Photos: leaks. Repair or replace IMG-3215 defective sections. IMG-3218 Reinstate downpipes IMG-3213 with new spacers to maintain gap at the back. Masonry Remove moss and Dwgs: Positive heritage impact vegetation from coping PR410 stones. PR411 Undertake brickwork As Positive heritage impact and stonework repairs scheduled. with new masonry to match existing. Investigate cause of Dwgs: Positive heritage impact; there is water/moisture ingress PR411 an urgent need to ascertain to north wall bay PR510 cause of ongoing water ingress, window head; Photos: reinstate and make good on dismantle balustrading IMG-3999 completion. and open up lead roof IMG-4000 coverings to ascertain IMG-4001 condition of inbuilt IMG-4002 structural timbers. IMG-4003 Reinstate masonry and IMG-4004 lead coverings on completion.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference 5no. East range statues Drawing: Positive heritage impact; statues above the arched PR113 require urgent gables sitting on top of Refer to repairs/intervention. Fractures a decorative keystone; statues 5, 6, are evident with built-in steel stabilise where 7, 8 and 9 reinforcement corroding; some required; clean and included in of the statues are leaning shelter coat. Allow for the Rooftop dangerously. removing to workshop Statuary to allow for urgent Condition repairs. Survey Report by Cliveden Conservation Internal Works Library Heating Install 4no. additional Dwgs: Neutral Heritage impact ; new radiators to window PR121 radiators will match the existing bays 3no. already installed to the 3142_250036 larger bay windows; the flat 2001, 2002 panel type specified will blend in and 2003. with the wall. Any copper pipework will be decorated to match the wall behind. The additional conservation heating will provide a better spread of heat and help control humidity levels within the Library providing a more stable environment for the collections. Structu ral floor repairs Dwg: Positive heritage impact ; to stiffen floor joists S-05 floorboards to be carefully lifted affected by death watch under the supervision of beetle. To the engineers conservator. details. Book presses to East Positive heritage impact; and West walls, phased insulation behind the books will removal of books and not be seen; insulation and shelves (presses remain brown wrapping material is in-situ), install fireproof; this intervention is insulation bats behind preferable to other more active books, measures trialled. Remove 2no. b ook Positive heritage impact; presses to the north intervention will not be visible. wall insulate behind.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference Cut access slot in (non - Dwgs: Positive heritage impact. historic) plaster soffit of PR510 north wall bay window; clear out any debris between lintel and masonry; install a DPM to separate outer timber lintel window masonry. Reinstate plaster soffit from mould taken and decorate. NE Turret Environmental Reinstate roof hatch; Dwgs: Neutral Heritage Impact Control draught seal casement PR113 windows and access PR501 attic door to the NE PR520 turret. Specification Section P01 Install dehumidifier; Dwgs: Neutral Heritage Impact; new install new power PR113 MICC cable run route will need supply with MICC cable to be agreed on site to ascertain run; remove 1no. builders work in connection; the diamond window light removal of the window light is to discharge exhaust air fully reversible; the discharge through 50mm lead aperture to the high level north aperture. facing window would have minimal visual impact. Bat Access Install bat boxes to the window reveals Floorboard Carefully take up Dwg: Some heritage impact ; the Conservation floorboards; PR530 existing floor boards are riddled consolidate and repair; with beetle damage and in a treat with constrain; extremely fragile condition; the relay on new structural conservation repairs; the extent ply sub floor. of decay and damage means that there will inevitably be a degree of loss of fabric which we will be careful to minimise. New piece in repairs will be matched to the existing timber. Plaster ceiling FF Ceiling: conservators Dwg: Some heritage impact ; the repairs/stabilisation to carry out a condition PR112 existing ceiling laths are riddled works survey of the ceiling PR520 with death watch beetle damage

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference and ascertain the full and extremely friable condition scope of repairs. which will inevitably result in PROVISIONALLY to all loss of some fabric when lathes, carefully dig out defrassed; the epoxy resin repair all lathes; screw 2 x with microballs proposed for the 3mm stainless steel first floor decorative ceiling will wires to joist and lay in help minimise any additional lathe void, fill void with weight on the ceiling below. We water based epoxy will undertake trials to validate resin with micro-balls. the effectiveness of the Tack coat prior to filling proposed repair methodologies. void with epoxy resin Mezzanine, SF and TF ceilings: At approximately 450mm centres along joist, supply and install penny washer fixings from underside, penny washers to be recessed and hole refilled, paint touched. Provisionally allow for approximately maximum 50 fixings. Structural Repairs Structural floor repairs Dwg s: Positive heritage impact; existing S-01 and 02 joists will be kept and strengthened by inserting new supplementary joists alongside. New joists will be isolated from contact with external masonry. The structural ply subfloor will further stabilise the floor structure and allow reinstatement fragile floor boards once they have been conserved. Window lintel repairs Dwgs: Some heritage impact ; the and bed reinforcement; S-03 and 04 window lintel repairs with new make good lime plaster steel T sections will allow us to and decorate repaired retain the existing timber lintels areas with a soft in situ and avoid loss of historic distemper. fabric. The intervention should not be visible from outside

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference therefore minimising any visual impact. The proposed bed reinforcement will result in the loss of some historic plasterwork. To the top floor large areas plasterwork has already fallen away from the wall and on the lower floors the walls have been patch repaired in the past with cementitious material. The areas of the NE turret where these repairs are proposed are not on the main public route. Remove plaster from Photos: Some heritage impact ; the lintels the face of the third IMG-4201 have been attacked by death floor timber lintels to IMG-4202 watch beetle. Removing the facilitate draying out. IMG-4203 plaster from the face will help IMG-4204 the timber dry out and reduce the moisture level at which the beetle may be active Bat Access Install bat boxes to 4no. Dwg: Neutral Heritage Impact; the mezzanine window PR501 installation of bat boxes is fully reveals. reversible. They will not be highly visible from outside having been stained in balck. Retain a 100mmx20mm Dwg: Some Heritage Impact; the gap for bat access PR501 existing window stay will require through the east side adjustment to maintain the casement window on proposed gap. the third floor. Attic Bed reinforcement Dwg: Positive Heritage Impact; The work to masonry above S-07 plasterwork is cracked in this the north bay window. location due to structural Make good plasterwork movement; the repair should on completion and stabilise the wall and alleviate decorate. some of the stress being placed on the built in timber lintels. Stiffen 5no. gablet Dwg: Positive Heritage Impact; The cheeks as specified by S-07 existing gabe wall structures are the structural engineer. beginning to lean and are out of plumb externally. The stiffening proposed once complete will have no visual impact internally. It will allow the opportunity for

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Area Work Item Drawing Impact and/or Photo Reference the origina l bead detail to the dormers to be reinstated.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Design and Access

Use

Remains unchanged

Layout

Remains unchanged

Scale

Remains unchanged

Access

Remains unchanged

Landscaping

Remains unchanged

Appearance

All external repairs will be undertaken with matching stonework, bricks and traditional lime mortars. Internal repairs will all be carried out using traditional materials in order to maintain the existing aesthetic qualities of the building.

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Blickling Library – Heritage Design and Access Statement

Appendices

• Caroe Architecture: - Specification, Materials and Workmanship - Schedule of Works - Appendices - Product Lit and Photographs - Drawings: ⋅ A3 Site Plan 1:1250 Existing ⋅ Ex100 Ground floor survey ⋅ Ex101 First floor survey ⋅ Ex102 Second floor survey ⋅ Ex103 Roof survey ⋅ Ex400 External elevation survey – sheet 1 ⋅ Ex401 External elevation survey – sheet 2 Proposed ⋅ PR001 Site access plan ⋅ PR111 First floor plan ⋅ PR112 Second floor plan ⋅ PR113 Roof plan ⋅ PR121 Proposes alterations to FF LTHW ⋅ PR311 Typical parapet and string course details ⋅ PR410 Part east elevation ⋅ PR411 Part north, west and south elevations ⋅ PR420 Library bookpress insulation ⋅ SK01 Bookpress insulation trial ⋅ PR501 Proposed bat works – sheet 1 ⋅ PR502 Proposed bat works – sheet 2 ⋅ PR510 Proposed north wall window bay works ⋅ PR520 NE Turret – Section and typical ceiling repairs ⋅ PR530 NE Turret – Floor board conservation works ⋅ 3142_25036 2001, 2002 and 2003 Existing heating layouts • Wright Consulting: - Specification and Schedule of Works - Floor plans and elevations • Tobit Curteis Associates: - Blickling Library Environmental Monitoring • Cliveden Conservation - Library and NE Turret Condition Surveys - Rooftop Statuary Condition Report

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