A cash‑strapped council furnishing an historic house sounds impossible. So staff at West Berkshire Council‑owned Shaw House in Newbury found a clever workaround: car-boot raids and donations.
Volunteers and visitors have donated furniture, china, pictures and other bits to help dress four rooms to evoke Tudor, Stuart, Georgian and Edwardian eras.
Sarah Somerville, Shaw House manager, has been collecting items herself and sometimes recruiting the council's transport team to help. "It's been really lovely as people have offered us bits of furniture that maybe belonged to their grandparents, that they were going to throw away, and we have found a place for it to live on here," she says.
There's even an old piano in the Georgian room. "There is a wonderful old piano dated to 1795-1820 in the Georgian room," she says. "We measured it and it could fit in my colleague's car, but we didn't realise how heavy it would be. It took ten of us to get it in here!"
The Tudor oak room is a highlight: dark oak panelling, diamond‑pane windows and a worn step showing centuries of use. Much of the bigger furniture was donated too, and Sarah says they're still unpacking trinkets and china.
"We have worked with so many different people to do this," she explains. "Whilst we are highlighting the eras it is very much not a museum display. For example, we have books in the rooms which we hope people will flick through, so we are trying to create a sense of it rather than a museum replica."
Because the house is also used for corporate bookings, teams removed conference lighting and reinstalled chandeliers - a nervy job for the heritage team.
Felicity Harison, who oversees culture at West Berkshire Council, said: "We are so excited about this new offer. We really want to expand Shaw House as a visitor attraction." She added that last year the Tudor Gardens were developed at the front of the house reflecting the Elizabethan period funded by the UK Share Prosperity fund, and they hope to recreate an Edwardian rose garden.
"There was a really big feature in Country Life magazine in 1910 about Shaw House so we are using that to try to replicate the Edwardian room.
"We have been working with Historic England and our conservation officers to make sure we are doing things right. It was quite nerve racking for me seeing the big conference type lighting being removed. I had a sleepless night the night before thinking of ceilings coming down!'"
Shaw House re‑imagined opens to the public on 1 April, with tickets £6-£9 and options for guided tours. The gardens remain free. "Someone had a wedding here and donated some easels, so we have paintings displayed on those! It has been a real community effort so far, and we would definitely encourage people to let us know if they have something we might be able to give a new life to," added Sarah. "Did I say how exciting this is?"
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
