Secrets of Britain's Historic Houses and Gardens

Enter the houses that became places of inspiration for three literary legends. Discover the countryside escape of Beatrix Potter in the Lake District, where she wrote some of her most famous works including Peter Rabbit. In Dorset, visit the house of T E Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia. In Sussex, a renovation project is under way at the home of Henry James, author of The Portrait of a Lady.

The compelling and sometimes scandalous family stories behind two very different National Trust houses are revealed. At Knole House, ancestral seat of the Sackville family lies a risqué tribute to a Georgian playboy's mistress. At the other end of the social scale, is the Lake District farmhouse Townend where 12 generations of the Brownes left a valuable archive covering 400 years of history.

The Peacock Dress, worn at the lavish Delhi Durbar at Kedleston Hall to mark Edward VII becoming Emperor of India needs conservation. At Dyrham Park, a painting by an unknown artist of the port of Bridgetown in Barbados - at the time the center of production for sugar, an industry intrinsically linked with the horrors of slavery - is thought to show an important event in the island's history.

Enter the homes of two Royalist women who refused to submit during the English Civil War - Ham House and Corfe Castle. When the monarchy was restored, Elizabeth Murray was richly for her loyalty but now her treasures need restoring at Ham House. Meanwhile, the National Trust's biggest ever conservation project is underway at Corfe Castle, shoring up its remaining walls.

One of the few 20th century buildings under the care of the National Trust lies in the leafy London suburb of Hampstead. Numbers 1,2 and 3 Willow Road were designed by, and home to, modernist architect and Bond villain namesake Ernő Goldfinger. Now one of Goldfinger's most prominent pieces, a sculpture by British artist Matthew Frere-Smith made from Perspex and nylon is undergoing conservation.

At the grand Cornish mansion Lanhydrock, a huge conservation project is underway to save one of the most spectacular 17th Century decorated ceilings in Britain, Meanwhile, at Coughton Court, it's a race against time to save the Tabula Eliensis, an oil-painted cloth depicting the coats of arms of 29 Catholic gentlemen, including Thomas Throckmorton, who were interned by Elizabeth I.