From cafes to craft fairs, glamping to ghosts, join Dame Penelope Keith as she meets the owners of Britain’s historic country houses struggling to keep their homes intact. Featured properties include Ashby Manor in Northamptonshire, Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, and Mapperton House in Dorset. As these estates turn to innovative ventures to stay afloat, Keith offers insight into the challenges of maintaining these grand homes in 2025. Will their creative solutions be enough to save their history?
DirectorsDave Huw Jones, James Baudouy
Episode 1
Jan 13, 2026
Insight into the work that goes into maintaining stately homes and gardens. In the Cotswolds, young couple James and Emma recently inherited Chavenage House and have bold plans to turn the estate into a glamping and sauna destination. At Brancepeth Castle in County Durham, the extended Dobson family take on their ancient and decaying windows of this 14th-century fortress-turned-country house.
Episode 2
Jan 20, 2026
After 25 years neglect, Pitchford Hall returns to its original family, who face a huge restoration task. In the Cotswolds, young couple James and Emma recently inherited Chavenage House and have bold plans to turn the estate into a glamping and sauna destination. At Brancepeth Castle in County Durham, the extended Dobson family take on their ancient and decaying windows of this 14th-century fortress-turned-country house.
Episode 3
Jan 27, 2026
The owners of Elizabethan Pitchford Hall in Shropshire are puzzled by dangerous sinkholes on the estate, possibly caused by an extraordinary subterranean Georgian bathhouse. In Dorset, American countess Julie Mapperton is hard at work restoring Mapperton House, and Brancepeth Castle opens its doors for the annual Dragon Quest, celebrating the legend of the infamous Lambton Worm.
Episode 4
Feb 3, 2026
At Chavenage House in the Cotswolds, James Lowsley-Williams starts to rescue a derelict and overgrown pond with chainsaws, diggers and tractors. Meanwhile, in Northamptonshire, there's a dusty restoration going on at Ashby Manor House's historic gatehouse as well the restoration of the Gunpowder Plot room becomes complex, and in Wales, Sally and Hugh Martineau are preparing to host their first wedding of the season amid Treberfydd House's Victorian splendour.
Episode 5
Feb 10, 2026
At Treberfydd House in Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), the biggest wedding of the year is underway, at least if the weather holds. In Shropshire, the owners of the Elizabethan Pitchford Hall are proud custodians of what is believed to be the world's oldest treehouse, supported by Britain's oldest broadleaf lime tree, which urgently needs some restoration work.
Episode 6
Feb 17, 2026
Wiltshire's stunning Iford Manor Gardens are in full bloom and a greenhouse refurbishment is underway. In Gloucestershire, an exceptional attic model railway is revealed at Chavenage, and the historic treehouse restoration project begins at Pitchford Hall in Shropshire.
Episode 7
Feb 24, 2026
Hidden secrets are unearthed at Staffordshire's Whitmore Hall. Ashby Manor's historic connections to the architect Edwin Lutyens are revealed, in both the house and in its gardens. Plus, the Chavenage mobile sauna project is hotting up.
Episode 8
Mar 3, 2026
In Chillingham in Northumberland, Britain's most haunted castle reveals its secrets as four brave visitors go on a night-time ghost hunt. The owners of Iford Manor in Wiltshire buy a pub to sell their own-brand cider in, as they seek to diversify the business. At Whitmore Hall in Staffordshire, the portraits get some long-overdue attention and a clean.
Episode 9
Mar 10, 2026
In Northamptonshire, Nova Guest has decided to get to grips with Ashby Manor's expansive parkland, and restore the views to the original vision of architect Edwin Lutyens. At Mapperton House, valuable tapestries are brought out for conservation. The staff at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, explain the challenges of working for lifelong collector Sir Humphry Wakefield, who keeps buying new items and antiques.
Episode 10
Mar 17, 2026
In Dorset, rain and storms threaten Mapperton House's annual plant fair. In Staffordshire, the Cavenagh-Mainwaring family are dealing with leaks of their own at Whitmore Hall. Nova Guest is thrilled to sign off her summer season by inviting the first visitors in to the newly-restored Gunpowder Plot room at Ashby Manor, and at Chavenage in the Cotswolds, James and Emma are finally ready to open up their vaunted sauna project to guests.
