Norfolk stately home's stairway to the past

Their steps have been stomped on and worn by the feet of countless Norfolk noblemen including the Earl of Buckinghamshire and Marquess of Lothian.

These days, the thousands of visitors who walk through the doors of Blickling Hall each year are drawn in by the sight of the grand main staircase - only to be shepherded away through another door.

Now the National Trust hopes they too will be able tread those history-laden steps and was yesterday making sure the 250-year-old structure could take the strain - using bags of sand.

Over the next couple of weeks, tests will be carried out on the main staircase of the Jacobean property, near Aylsham, to find out whether it is strong enough to be used by the public.

Sarah Bowers, regional building manager for the National Trust, said: 'We know it's out of level - it feels a bit strange to walk up, but we are trying to open it up. You walk in and just want to go up there.'

The Brown staircase, currently used by visitors to get from the basement to the first floor, will also be put through its paces to find out if a wooden strengthening support can be removed.

Yesterday, engineers from Price and Myers used a low-tech method of bags of sand to test how much weight the grand staircase can withstand.

Gauges monitor how much the structure moves and consulting engineer Sam Price said it was hoped it would not budge more than 3mm or 4mm.

'It's looking good. The two sides are of different dates, but from everything we can see and the measurements we have taken, it looks positive,' he said.

Louise Green, assistant house steward at Blickling Hall, said the main staircase would have been used by the grand estate's many owners over the years, alongside their honoured guests.

She added: 'In 1767, when the Second Earl was here, he made changes. He expanded the Great Hall and brought half of the staircase in from the lower ante room, then made a newer matching half.'

The main staircase was last used by visitors in the 1980s before the Trust decided to protect the ageing structure from clumping feet and roped it off from the public.

Mrs Green said even staff rarely get to use it. She said: 'We go on it once every two weeks to clean it thoroughly. That's it.'

Once tests have been completed on the main staircase, they will move on to the Brown staircase - a wooden cantilevered structure - which will undergo a similar examination.

If both are found to be sturdy enough, work would then begin to restore them fully.

The main staircase would need repairs on sections attacked by insects and a covering placed over the steps to prevent visitors slipping on the highly-polished wood.

The Brown staircase will at last have its unsightly central support - which resembles wooden scaffolding - removed and hand rails improved.

If everything goes to plan, visitors could be walking up the grand main steps, past portraits of key Norfolk figures like first prime minister Robert Walpole, sometime next year.