National Trust repairs reveal ‘make do and mend’ secrets of rare 18th-century bed cover

Chinese silk coverlet from Erddig Hall near Wrexham saved from ruin after first world war by mistress of house

A 300-year-old bed cover, made from Chinese silk and embroidered with peacocks and flowers, was saved from ruin in the years after the first world war when the owners of country house estates in the UK found themselves short of cash and servants.

The rare and fragile early 18th-century coverlet was created to grace the best bed chamber in Erddig Hall, near Wrexham. Now, almost 700 hours of painstaking conservation work by the National Trust has revealed an unexpected history.