MONTHS of painstaking work lie ahead for a team of experts who have the job of putting one of the country's most unusual collections safely into storage.

National Trust conservators have begun the mammoth task of packing away all 22,000 items in Charles Paget Wade's collection of craftsmanship that he crammed into his home at Snowshill Manor.

It is thought the job, which will take at least four months, is one of the biggest packing operations ever undertaken in the country.

The collection, which includes Samurai armour, toys, clocks, musical instruments and bone-shaker bicycles, is being put into storage while essential maintenance work is completed at the historic property.

National Trust conservator Catherine MacCarthy said: "In terms of conservation, this is a major challenge for the National Trust - the biggest, most complex packing operation it has ever been involved in. Experts in conservation from an incredible range of disciplines have contributed their expertise, including specialists in armour, metalwork, ceramics, musical instruments and masks.

"Each of the 22,000 items needs to be catalogued before being packed. In many cases storage packaging is being custom-made for the specific item. For Wade's collection of model ships, custom-built boxes to fit each hull are being built. Imagine packing a Tibetan wedding head-dress covered in tiny kingfisher feathers and pink pom-poms on gilded springs!"

Wade began his collection as a child and continued to add items throughout his life. In 1919 he moved to Snowshill Manor, which he restored and began to fill with his treasures. In fact, the 21-room building became so chock-a-block he chose to live in the Priest's House, a converted cottage near the manor.

Property manager Janet Clark said Wade was a fascinating character with great ability as an artist, illustrator and architect. "His great passion in life was craftsmanship and this led to his collection of fine examples of work.

"His idea was that with factory production coming in, people in the future would not be able to see many examples of craftsmanship so his plan was to form the collection as an archive for generations to come."

The house is now closed to visitors until March 2005 but there will be an opportunity to see the building - without the collection - in January. "Nobody has seen the house empty for 100 years, so it will be interesting architecturally. It is a fascinating house even without the collection," said Mrs Clark.

In the meantime, it will be business as usual for the shop and restaurant over the weekends in the run-up to Christmas and throughout next year.

The manor's enchanting Arts and Crafts garden will also be opening for a series of events while the building is closed. Mrs Clark said that despite the closure of the manor and the absence of the collection, there would still be much to enjoy at the historic house. "A major programme of garden events will give a new focus to a visit to the property and we hope visitors will come and enjoy Wade's series of outdoor rooms, which create a wonderful complex of small gardens to explore.

"Visitors will be able to take part in walks with the gardener, craft workshops, kids' events such as treasure hunts and tracker packs or just enjoy the changing seasons in the garden."