After five years out of the public eye an theatrical historic
dress has once more taken centre stage.

The beetle wing dress made famous by Victorian actress Ellen
Terry is finally on show again at Smallhythe Place near Tenterden
following extensive restoration.

It’s taken more than 1,300 hours of conservation work, the
sewing back of 1,000 real beetle wings and an extensive
fund-raising effort to make the dress as good as new.

The dress is one of the most iconic and celebrated theatre
costumes of the Victorian period.

The emerald and sea green gown, adorned with the iridescent
wings of the jewel beetle, was designed to look like soft chain
armour and yet give the appearance of the scales of a serpent.

It was worn by the much-loved actress Ellen Terry when she wowed
audiences with her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in 1888.

The dress was immortalised by the John Singer Sargent portrait
of Ellen which is now on display at the Tate Gallery.

The National Trust’s Smallhythe Place was the last home of Ellen
Terry, who was known as the 'Queen of the Theatre’.

It houses amongst its extensive theatre collection, dresses and
accessories worn by Terry and Henry Irving in their most famous
Shakespearian roles.

The beetle wing dress used to take
centre stage in the collection, but at over 120 years old it was
increasingly fragile.

As one of the most important items in the National Trust’s whole
collection, the dress was on the priority list to be conserved.

So five years ago it was withdrawn from public view as the
intricate process of conserving it began.

Paul Meredith, house manager at Smallhythe Place said: “We had
collected many of the beetle wings that had fallen off over the
years, so our conservator was able to re-attach many of the
originals, plus others that had been donated to us – 1,000 in
total.”

The work was carried out by Brighton based conservator Zenzie
Tinker and her team.

Zenzie said: “We have restored the original shape of the
elaborate sleeves and the long, trailing hemline that Ellen so
admired.

"If she were alive today, I’m sure she’d be delighted.

“She really valued her costumes because she kept and re-used
them time and again. And I’d like to think she’d see our
contribution as part of the on-going history of the dress.”

The dress is now back where it belongs, in a new contemporary
display space which also features items from Ellen Terry’s dressing
room that have never been shown in public before.

Smallhythe Place was the home of Ellen Terry from 1899 until her
death in 1928.

Her daughter, Edith Craig, gave Smallhythe Place to the National
Trust in 1939.

The public are able to see the dress at Smallhythe Place from
Saturday to Wednesday, 11am-5pm.

For more information log on to theNational Trust's page on Smallhythe Place