Wimpole: Book Restoration Underway

8 June 2013, 11:00 | Updated: 8 June 2013, 11:09

Experts have begun the painstaking task of restoring books damaged during a leak at Wimpole Hall.

Experts think they will need to spend up to two years restoring the 259 books which were stained by dirty water following a leak above the book room at the National Trust hall in 2010.

Each stained page has to be treated separately using a washing method involving adding hot water to the paper before blotting away the moisture to remove tide-marks.

House and collections manager, Lisa Voden-Decker, said: "The paper conservators use a simple, but startlingly effective process."

"When I first saw the team flood a page with water it was shocking. But the results speak for themselves."

"Their skill and patience with the process is absorbing, and they are so good at explaining what they are doing."

"Our visitors can get right up to their work bench and are intrigued to be able to see a page being treated and transformed in front of their eyes.''

With over 6,000 books, including 4,000 from pre 1810, Wimpole's library is one of the National Trust's largest and most varied.