Behind The Curtain

Christmas is an important time for venues and businesses, with increased visitors and revenue to match. Here we find out how three Hampshire favourites are preparing for Yuletide

- Duncan Hall and Claire Pitche

Dressing for Christmas

A book in the Wiggett Chute library has inspired a Victorian themed Christmas at a Hampshire stately home.

Plans to transform The Vyne, in Sherbourne St John, near Basingstoke, into A Christmas Carol-themed winter wonderland were first decided in January. Since then volunteers have been working hard to create Victorian decorations in workshops, while a trail around the house and garden has been planned out since May.

“At the moment we have about 250 to 300 paper roses in a bath tub on the third floor,” says conservation assistant Mary Chatburn, referring to a former custodian’s flat in the building. “I’ve also got a room at home full of things for this year.”

“Christmas tends to spread out,” adds visitor experience assistant Claire Hetherington.

“There are several rooms full of pretty decorations.” The decorations are waiting for a scheduled deep clean in midNovember, after which the visitor experience team can affect a festive transformation, which will be complete on 30 November.

Visitors to the former home of the Wiggett Chute family will be able to follow themed trails around the house and gardens,

‘We put a lot of work into making Christmas good for visitors, but it’s also nice for the volunteers ’ as well as admire the decorations created using original Victorian patterns and methods. “We have done a lot of research into what the Victorians liked to use,” says Mary. “This year we are making ivy ribbons for the first time – the Victorians would use strips of fabric or newspaper, pick some ivy, take the leaves off and sew them onto the strips.” Last year saw volunteers make hundreds of handmade cornucopias, which will also be dusted off to decorate some of the rooms.