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

The bed cover, made from Chinese silk and embroidered with peacocks and flowers, was commissioned in 1720 for the room used to accommodate the family’s most distinguished guests. Photograph: Paul Harris

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.