George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked
Architect and building lover George Clarke goes behind the scenes at the National Trust, the organization that looks after many of Britain’s historic sites. George, plus his pooch Loki, gets exclusive access to some of the UK’s most impressive structures, learns a few secrets about the history of the buildings and meets the dedicated people determined to keep these architectural gems protected.
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George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked on BBC Select
Episode 1: Kingston Lacy
George Clarke is in Dorset at the UK’s most exquisite example of Italianate architecture.
Architecture expert George Clarke is in Dorset at the UK’s most exquisite example of Italianate architecture, Kingston Lacy. He also visits the American-built Hidcote Manor Garden and uncovers a tale of shame and scandal at the Cotswold landmark. He then takes his faithful husky Loki for a walk around beautiful Studland Bay to see Old Harry Rocks, WWII Fort Henry, and Agglestone Rock.
Episode 2: Dunster Castle
George Clarke explores the historic, ancestral home of US President George Washington.
George Clarke visits the uniquely styled, architectural marvel that is the 1000-year-old Dunster Castle in Somerset. He then discovers that it’s not size that matters at the finest surviving 17th-century Dutch-style water garden in the UK, Westbury Court in Gloucestershire. He also explores Washington Old Hall, where the U.S. President George Washington’s ancestors lived for centuries.
Episode 3: Cragside
George Clarke visits one of the most modern Victorian houses in existence: Cragside.
George visits one of the most modern Victorian houses in existence; the water-powered, cliff-top mansion Cragside in Northumberland. He also explores the remarkable Grade I listed Cliveden Gardens, once owned by America’s richest man, William Waldorf Astor. George then sees Snowshill Manor’s impressive collection of trinkets and shogun armor before taking his dog Loki on Bath’s Skyline Walk.
Episode 4: Standen
George visits the magnificent and meticulously crafted country retreat: Standen.
George visits the magnificent and meticulously crafted country retreat that was the embodiment of the Arts and Crafts movement, Standen in West Sussex. He discovers a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture at Tyntesfield in Somerset. George then explores the medieval ruins of Corfe Castle, before taking his husky Loki along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast up to the Golden Cap.
Episode 5: Killerton
George explores one of the National Trust’s most quirky buildings. The Killerton bearhut.
George discovers one of the National Trust’s quirkiest architectural marvels, a bearhut on the 6400-acre Killerton estate in Devon. At Baddesley Clinton Hall, Warwickshire, a unique moated manor house, he hears how it acted as a hideaway for runaway Catholics during the Elizabethan era. Finally, he explores Gibside, an impressive if partly derelict 600-acre park estate near to Newcastle.
Episode 6: Ham House
George explores one of the grandest 17th-century powerhouses, the decadent Ham House.
George explores one of Britain’s grandest 17th-century powerhouses, the lavish, Jacobian Ham House. He then gets a private tour at the ahead-of-its-time, modernist London home of
architect Ernö Goldfinger, who inspired James Bond author Ian Fleming. He then fulfills a childhood obsession by climbing the Pantheon-like Penshaw Monument before taking his dog Loki along the River Wear.
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