Many hands can’t even make light work of the job of looking after a stately home.

For the National Trust team at Knole House, Sevenoaks, every winter is time to clean, conserve and prepare, but this year there’s been an extra flurry of activity.

A massive conservation project is going on behind the scenes at the 15th century property, which started in January and won’t end until 2018.

The house is the subject of a £19.8m project, thanks mainly to Heritage Lottery Fund money.

It is the largest National Trust renovation project going on across the country.

It will see major building work, with a new conservation studio, improvements to the showrooms, heating and lighting so the collections can be better displayed.

There will also be extra rooms opened to the public and urgently needed conservation work to paintings, textiles and furniture.

Staff have been working hard carefully taking down items so they can be inspected, cleaned and renovated, but because of the value and fragility of the collection, it all has to be done with painstaking care.

Among the items taken down for a spring clean was A Prospect of Dover Castle, by John Wootton, which dates from 1727, and is one of the largest paintings at Knole.

It hung above the fireplace in the Great Hall and needed many staff to handle it carefully.

Some items are still in the house, however, including the King’s Bed, which could not be moved. Other items will be in the Great Hall which has been turned into the Great Store, with a chance to see key pieces.

There’s a popular myth that Knole is a calendar house – that it has 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and seven courtyards. But it depends how you count the rooms as to how many there are.

The house has three galleries – the longest of which is the Cartoon Gallery. These were made so long partly to lead to other treasures and partly as exercise in bad weather.

The ballroom dates from 1467, when it was the main living room. The King’s Room has a magnificent royal state bed and rare silver furniture.

The showrooms reopen to the public on Saturday, March 5, from 11am to 4pm.

A HOUSE LACED WITH HISTORY

There’s six centuries of history among the walls and 1,000-acre grounds of Knole. It was built by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1456 and was later owned by royalty. Henry VIII hunted in its extensive grounds and Elizabeth I also visited.

From 1603, Thomas Sackville made it the aristocratic treasure house for the Sackville family, and over more than 400 years, his descendants rebuilt and furnished it. The family gradually withdrew into the heart of the house, leaving some rooms unused and treasures covered, but the lack of modernisation was good for visitors today, as it meant many collections survived.

Today house is mostly cared for and opened by the National Trust.

DETAILS

One of the great things about Knole, unlike many stately homes, is that it can be easily reached by public transport. The nearest mainline railway station is Sevenoaks which is just over a mile away. To walk to Knole from the station, turn right and walk up the hill, through Sevenoaks High Street, until you reach St Nicholas Church on your right. Knole is clearly signposted on your left.

More details at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole