Waddesdon Manor items among 125 National Trust Treasures
The National Trust is celebrating 125 years
The National Trust has included items from Waddesdon Manor in their treasures collection.
Waddesdon Manor, in Buckinghamshire, has five items featured in a new collection by the National Trust.
The National Trust looks after a treasure chest of history, and a new book - 125 Treasures from the Collections of the National Trust - shares the stories behind some of these remarkable objects.
The collection has been made to celebrate 125 years of the organisation.
Pippa Shirley is director of Collections, Landscapes and Historic Properties at Waddesdon Manor:
"When the call came in from the National Trust there was a slight bit of panic because our collection is rather large so whittling it down to 5 was a challenge.
"As a team we gave suggestions as to what could be included, and the we presented that to the NT who picked 5 from there.
"It's such a wonderful opportunity and the fact we have 5 items tells you quite a bit about how important Waddesdon Manor is in the Trust and that is thanks to Ferdinand Rothschild and many more."
The book includes images and information about each item, but alongside this a podcast has been created to focus on specific items.
The Waddesdon's elephant automaton is one item that has a podcast episode dedicated to its history, which Pippa says is extremely exciting for them:
"One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of it is the range of ways to draw people in and podcasts is one of the ways to do that.
"So we were really excited to be invited to take part with one of the objects from us, the elephant automaton.
"I think this will be a way to reach people that the book might not, which is very exciting for us."
The objects included will also be labelled so visitors to Waddesdon Manor, when it reopens May 17th, will be able to spot the treasures.