The Restoration Project
September 2015 to March 2017
The Carved Room derives its name from the elaborately carved panelling that was installed in the early eighteenth century. With support from The Pilgrim Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund, the Burton Constable Foundation undertook a project to conserve the historic panelling and reinstate the room as it would have appeared in the eighteenth century, when it functioned as a Gentleman's Cabinet. This included repairing the surviving panelling (some of which was recovered from outbuildings) and re-carving the lost elements. A new plaster ceiling has been created - based on the design of a ceiling of the same period that survives elsewhere in the house. The Edwardian cast iron fire range was removed and replaced by an appropriate white marble fireplace. Finally, the room was decorated in its original blue and gilt scheme and presented as William Constable's Cabinet.
Dismantling the remaining panelling, together with forensic paint analysis, brought to light new evidence concerning the room's history. It appears that the creation of the Carved Room suffered interruptions and changes in design and was only completed after a number of years. Contrary to what has previously been believed, the Evidence Room with the iron door referred to in an indenture dated 1610 must have been the room above the Carved Room - it was recorded as such in 1757. The Carved Room itself appears to have been an ante-room situated at the north end of the Parlour, which had a narrow window on the north wall and provided access to the spiral staircase leading up the north tower (now the Sacristy Lobby, hence its circular shape).