The rooms have often been to a certain time period; for example the Yellow Drawing Room is to the time of the third Earl and is very much the work of Soane. One can distinguish Soane’s work by the magnificent arches and the extraordinary height in the room. Whereas the red room is done to the time of the fourth Earl.
The rooms and areas of the estate in the time of Chicheley is the Chapel that is attached to the church.
However Harley, architect Gibbs, made some changes to the chapel so it is done to the time of Chicheley and Harley. In addition the chapel inside the hall was done to the time of Harley.
The rooms and area done to the time of the first and second Earl, architect Flitcroft, are the saloon and most of the exterior of the central block as Flitcroft refaced it to match the wings that Gibbs added. However Kendall did make a few minor changes, by adding a sculpture of Charity and a chimney block. This means the South and North Front was done mainly to the time of the first and second Earls.
The rooms and areas of the estate done to the time of the third Earl, architect Soane, are the Book room, Yellow Drawing Room, Great Staircase, Inner Hall, Stone staircase, Back staircase, Bathhouse, Home farm and the Gardens. The Yellow Drawing room was the room in which Soane was particularly famous for creating. In addition the gardens and park have the minor change of the tree in the south avenue being changed after the third Earl. The elms were placed with Dutch- Limes, because of the elms were killed by the Dutch elm disease. The inner room was mainly done to the time of the third earl although the fourth Earl did make a few minor changes as Kendall added another pair of ionic columns. Adding to that Home farm is mainly to the time of the third Earl except for an extra barn used for storage added by the National Trust and the farmhouse and dairy added by Kendall. Even with these buildings present now one can still have a good idea of the farm at the time of the third Earl.
The rooms and areas of the estate done to the time of the fourth Earl, architect Kendall, are the South Front, North Front, Gallery, Entrance Hall, the South Drawing room, Red room, Inner Hall, Lord Chancellor’s bedroom, Lord Chancellor’s Dressing room, stable block and the Church. However the South Drawing room does have Mrs Bambridge’s taste in the arrangement of furniture. The carpet in the South Drawing room is dated the twentieth century, therefore later than the time of the fourth Earl, but it is only a minor change. Carpet also dated early twentieth century in the Lord Chancellor’s Dressing Room. The stable block is definitely done to the time of the fourth Earl as Kendall rebuilt it in 1852.
The rooms and areas of the estate that are done to time of Mrs Bambridge are the Ante room, Library, Breakfast room, Mrs Bambridge’s bedroom and Mrs Bambridge’s Study. The Anteroom is done to the time of Mrs Bambridge because she redecorated it. In addition the library would have been to the time of third if it were not for Mrs Bambridge adding two extra windows, this therefore make the room to the time of Mrs Bambridge.
The owner’s are not equally represented, because of many different reasons. The first reason for why the time capsules are not equal is the lack of money. The National Trust receives no grants from the government and is only funded by membership money and donations which the public give. This means that changes that are made need to be saved up for and that takes a fair amount time.
The second reason is Health and Safety. For example fire exits, fire blanket and extinguishers, etc have to be inserted by law otherwise Wimpole would not be allowed to be open for the public. This upsets the time periods by adding new and modern inventions.
Thirdly in order to attract visitors in the first place attractions need to put in. Animal feeding areas play areas and picnic areas are needed to encourage people to come to the estate. With these attractions families can come for a whole day and it is made more fun and child friendly with play equipment. In addition facilities such as toilets, car parks, shops, catering, reception area and souvenir shops are all needed by the public. Without toilets for example, people are less likely to visit the estate, because it would not have had the facilities they wanted and desired. However these would not have been there before the National Trust took over and so do not fit with the different time periods
Government legalisation means that for example, disabled access need to be inserted in order not to discriminate certain people. It is the law that public areas need to have facilities for the disabled to make more things available for everyone. These accesses would not have been there before the law enforced which was during the time the National Trust have been in ownership of the Wimpole hall. The accesses therefore make the rooms/ area not to the time periods, but they are necessary.
By restoring rooms to different time periods. For example if the National Trust wished to make the National Trust to the time of the Third Earl they would have to knock out the far windows and by doing that damage may be conflicted on the outside wall. Also if the National Trust wanted to restore the South Drawing room to the time of Lord Harley redesign it to the way Gibbs did before Kendall remodelled it. This may cause damage on the South Front and Anteroom. How much would the National Trust damage in order to get one room to a certain time period?
The National Trust has tried to achieve time capsules of ownership. In my opinion I do not think they have completely successfully achieved their target for equal time capsules. Although I do feel they have done the best they could have in order to let the general public view the history of Wimpole Hall and how it changed over the years. The National Trust have not fully achieved their target, but have gone a long way to encourage people to be interested in Wimpole’s History. The National Trust had to make a decision when it came to adding attractions like play areas and animal feeding areas. Whether to keep things the same as before or modernise things in order to encourage more visitors to come to the estate. They choose to modernise, because if no one comes to visit the estate money does not come in and it would not be teaching the public about Wimpole history.