At Tyntesfield, Alan learns about the rise of William Gibbs, who became the richest non-aristocrat in 19th-century Britain through the trade of guano - otherwise known as bird droppings. Meanwhile, Chef Tony Singh and presenter Miriam O’Reilly explore beyond the Victorian Gothic house to discover the estate’s gardens, while Louis Emerick visits Mr Straw’s House in Nottinghamshire where, like Tyntesfield, it seems as though time has stood still for almost a century.
In Dorset, Alan unearths the story of William John Bankes, an Egyptologist who filled his family mansion with treasures while exiled abroad, but never got to see the home he lovingly created. At Corfe Castle, Oz Clarke learns about William’s great, great, great grandmother Dame Mary Bankes, who resisted a three-year siege during the Civil War. Meanwhile, Joan Bakewell travels to Cambridge where the secrets of one of Kingston Lacy’s paintings are uncovered using new technology.
Alan uncovers the scandal that rocked local Victorian society, when the seventh Earl of Stamford, George Harry Grey, rebelled against expectations and married a beautiful circus performer. The reaction forced them to flee and leave the estate to decline, until it found a new purpose as a military hospital during the First World War. Louis Emerick and Angellica Bell meet Dunham’s resident bees and historic deer herd while Nigel Havers travels to Smallhythe in Kent to learn about a revered Victorian performer: actress Dame Ellen Terry.
In this episode Alan learns about the life and legacy of Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry, who transformed both the gardens at her home Mount Stewart, and the political landscape for women in the early twentieth century. Oz Clarke goes behind the scenes of the famous Mediterranean-style garden Edith created, while Alison Hammond visits Cliveden House in Berkshire to find out more about former resident and first female MP to sit in the House of Commons, Nancy Astor.
Shugborough Hall was the work of two brothers: swashbuckling sailor George Anson who made his fortune on the high seas, and the artistic traveller, Thomas. Alan uncovers their stories and that of another Shugborough resident: jet-setting earl and photographer to the stars Patrick Lichfield. Meanwhile, Miriam O’Reilly seeks out a photographic pioneer at Lacock in Wiltshire, and actor Louis Emerick follows the ale-trail from Shugborough’s on-site brewery to the hop farm at Scotney Castle
Alan is in North Wales, discovering the unique story of Erddig, a grand mansion where the servants and the Yorke family, who owned it for many years, enjoyed a very close relationship. At Powis Castle, Nigel Havers checks out some magnificent topiary, and Miriam O'Reilly learns how servants were kept very firmly in their place at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.
