Collections Assistant

Job Description

We protect everything from bats to buildings to beaches - and we want to share them with everyone too. But how do we care for our special places, while helping everyone to enjoy them and their fascinating stories Its no small task. In fact, its a bigteam effort and its why our Collections Assistant are so important.Hours: 37.50 hours per week. Working pattern normally Tuesday to Saturday with an 8.30 am start.Salary: £ 17375 per annum Contract: Permanent role What its like to work hereThe Hinton Portfoliocomprises of Hinton Ampner, Uppark House and Garden, Winchester City Mill and Ludshott and Selborne Commons. The portfolio is large and varied, covering the Western part of the South Downs National Park. In it we have 2 pay for entry sites with glorious mansions,priceless collections and stunning gardens; 1 city centre water mill which is free entry for everyone, still milling flour that we use in our caf and sell to our visitors; and several pockets of beautiful countryside providing access to nature for everyone.Upparkwas built c.1690, crowning the South Downs ridge in West Sussex. Uppark is a fine example of a family home built during the golden age of country-house construction in the 17th century, cherished by generations of families and the survivor of turbulent events.Theinteriors and gardens are predominantly associated with the Fetherstonhaugh family who bought the estate in 1747 and filled it with British decorative art and extensive sets of paintings acquired on extended Grand Tours. Changes were made later to the approaches,gardens and interiors by renowned architect and landscape designer Humphry Repton. One key element to our collection at Uppark is one of just two most important 18th-century British dolls houses in the world, brought to Uppark in 1746. Uppark is also immortalisedin H.G.Wells novel Tono Bungay after he spent some of his youth living here. A devastating fire in 1989 gutted many of the interiors but they were painstakingly reconstructed, and the house today is presented as it was on the day before the fire, highlightingthe amazing skill and specialist craftmanship that was brought in to bring this unique property back to its former glory.Hinton Ampner is a Grade II listed mansion radically remodelled for Ralph Dutton between 1936-9. Hinton Ampner is an important buildingin shaping twentieth-century interpretation of the significance of the Country House in the U.K. context. Dutton was positioned at the centre of an important homosocial relationship network of creative individuals who came together to co-create and co-designcollections, interiors, and architecture. After a fire in 1960, the house was rebuilt and refurnished immediately, and Hinton Ampner still retains its Regency Villa style today. The house interiors and works of art are comparable with international museumcollections. Dutton was authority on art and architecture, avidly buying art at a time when the market was flooded with the dispersal of major private collections, and before an increase in prices of the late 1960s. Duttons collection comprises of importantexamples of seventeenth to twentieth-century European art including paintings, furniture, sculptures, porcelain and one of the finest groups of hardstones in the National Trust. What youll be doingAs a Collections Assistant, youll be working with a greathousekeeping team in an incredible place, helping with the day-to-day cleaning and care of the collections. No detail will go unnoticed, and youll keep a keen eye on everything from the environmental conditions in a room, to signs of wear and tear. Youllkeep accurate records too. In this visitor facing role, wed love you to talk to visitors about the work youre doing, and the collections we have. Youll also be part of the wider team of employees and volunteers, helping to cover where necessary. Pleasealso read the full role profile, attached on our website. Wed love to hear from you if you have; A keen interest in history, historic properties and conservation of their collections A good understanding of preventive conservation Knowledge of the approachrequired when working with fragile historic collections as well as Health & Safety and emergency procedures Good manual dexterity and eye-to-hand skills and ability to work from ladders and tower scaffold The ability to support volunteers to perform at theirbest Good interpersonal and communication skills, and are a great team player A willingness to undertake continuing professional development and personal skills development and have an enthusiasm to learn