Ancestral home on Antiques Roadshow

The first of two Antiques Roadshow programmes featuring Lord Byron’s ancestral home will be screened on Sunday.

From Byron’s boxing gloves to a unique screen made for him by a friend, the show provides a rare insight into the history and significance of items in the collection at Newstead Abbey.

The gloves were used by him whenever he was in residence as he had a love of boxing while in Nottinghamshire.

Haidee Jackson, keeper of collections at Newstead, said: “Byron sparred daily in the grandest room in the house, the Great Dining Room, while he was in residence here. Boxing and theatre were two of his passions.”

These passions are captured in a scrap screen made for him by his fencing instructor, Henry Angelo, between 1811 and 1815. Viewers will be treated to a close-up view of the on them on the TV programme.

The gloves are on permanent display in the library at Newstead and are part of the abbey’s collection of Byron’s personal possessions, including other sporting equipment, such as his fencing masks, as well as furniture, pictures and other items that he inherited or brought to Newstead.

The grounds of the abbey are open daily to the public, and feature parkland, lakes and landscaped gardens, including Japanese, Spanish, walled and Rose Gardens.

From Saturday the house will open at weekends from noon to 4pm. Visitors will be able to walk around at leisure.

The second Antiques Roadshow programme will be screened in the autumn and focus on the abbey’s Japanese Garden and Japanese Room.