plan for the many pictures in its care.

Now, visitors to Verdmont can see the spectacular results, with several of the portraits there already restored to pristine quality.

As part of the In Trust For All campaign, the Christian Humann Foundation donated funds specifically for the restoration of paintings and other artefacts in the National Trust Collection.

Vice President and Chairman of the Museums Committee, Mr. Hugh Davidson says "a happy set of circumstances'' enabled the Trust to get started on the project right away. He is particularly pleased that "people will be able to see for themselves that the benefactor's money has been used promptly''.

The Trust has been able to take advantage of the fact that one of Britain's leading art restorers was already on the Island, working on paintings belonging to the National Gallery.

So, in the words of Mr. Michael Cowell, of Burghley Fine Art Conservation Ltd., who has so far completed restoration of five of the Verdmont portraits, "what normally takes three or four months, has been done in three or four weeks''.

And as a bonus, Mr. Cowell's wife, Christine, who is a specialist frame restorer, has repaired three of the picture frames at no charge.

Verdmont, the magnificent Smith's Parish mansion described by the National Trust as the "jewel in the crown'' of all its properties, is the first to benefit from the Foundation's gift.

According to Mr. Davidson, "the paintings at Verdmont are of particular interest because they are the only things in the house that were there when John Green and his family lived there at the end of the 18th century''.

It is thought that Verdmont dates from the early or mid-1700s, although the presence of the fine cedar staircase hints that an earlier, wooden structure may have occupied the site on top of the hill named for the then Collector of Customs, John Smith.

Judge John Green, who inherited the property from his father-in-law, the same Mr. Smith, in 1780, has generally been credited with painting most of the portraits of that era. Recently, however, there has been increasing speculation that the artist may in fact have been his contemporary, well-known portraitist Joseph Blackburn.

As Mr. Davidson sees it (and Mr. Cowell agrees), if John Green of Verdmont did indeed paint the rather inferior portrait of his wife, Polly, as is accepted, then it is difficult to see how the other, undeniably superior portraits, could have come from the same brush.

"Apart from anything else, the more you look at them, you see that the technique is quite different.'' Mr. Davidson is enthusiastic about the quality of Mr. Cowell's restoration work.

"There's a tremendous advantage in getting the pictures restored here, both from the expense point of view and all the hassle of coping with Customs and insurance if we send them away. Also, because Mike Cowell has been working here, he understands the technical problems that are perhaps peculiar to Bermuda, because of the climate.'' Mr. Cowell, who obtained his M.A. at the world-renowned Courtauld Institute in London, admits that while he is "pleased'' with the results of his work, there is a real problem with build-up of sodium chloride (salt) and the effects of ultra-violet rays on paint surfaces in Bermuda.

"The combination of the two has had a bad effect and it was difficult to find the right solvents. This climate is a real killer.'' He points out that both paintings and their frames face another threat: "Gelatin is used as a basic adhesive in both and gelatin doesn't fare well in high humidity.'' In spite of these technical hiccups, Mr. Cowell is satisfied that completion of five of the portraits is "about right'' at this stage. He is working on two more which he hopes to finish before he returns to undertake a massive restoration mission at Burghley House, in Lincolnshire.

Having already consolidated, cleaned and restored the enormous (almost 4,000 square feet) Bow Room at Burghley, he now has to tackle Verrio's suite of painted ceilings, including his acknowledged masterpiece, The Heaven Room.

Burghley House, probably the greatest Elizabethan house in Britain, which, he says, has the biggest collection of paintings in England and the best collection of Renaissance Italian paintings outside Italy, now provides the base for his restoration company. From the very outset of his career he was invited to take care of several major British collections, including those at Nottingham, Worcester and Norwich Castles.

"I am presently preparing 90 of the paintings from Burghley House for an exhibition at the Metropolitan in New York, which is then going on tour to four or five major American cities,'' explains Mr. Cowell, who is on his second trip to the Island, restoring works in the Hereward Watlington Collection of European paintings at the Bermuda National Gallery.

"This is our second visit here and we will be back around next Easter time for another three or four months. We love coming out here,'' he enthuses. He doubts, however, if he will be able to complete all the restoration work still required. His children who, he says, spend a term each year at Saltus Grammar School, will not be able to do this as they get older.

"But I'm very pleased that there is a Bermudian waiting in the wings.

Margaret Smith, who is helping me this year, is doing her M.A. at the University of Northumbria in painting conservation. She is doing some fine work,'' he says.

Mr. Davidson believes the entire project will take at least a couple of years, "depending on how much Mike can handle during the periods he is here''.

He adds: "We wish that more locals would visit and get to know their own wonderful heritage. Verdmont, in particular, has such marvellous architecture and furniture -- and now these paintings. And people shouldn't forget that the gardens alone are well worth a visit.'' Verdmont, on Collector's Hill, Smith's Parish, is open to the public from Monday to Saturday, 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

RESTORED TO GRACE -- Five of the 17 National Trust paintings at Verdmont have now been restored. Admiring the portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Trott (c.1780) are, from left: Mrs. Frances Aeschliman, member of the Trust's museum committee, Mr. Hugh Davidson, Trust vice-president and chairman of the museums committee and fine art conservationist Mr. Michael Cowell of the Burghley Fine Art Conservation Ltd.

MISS HONORA (PEGGY) SMITH -- The unmarried daughter of the Hon. Thomas Smith and sister of Elizabeth Trott.

MRS. JANE TUCKER SLATER -- It is now thought that this portrait may have been painted by Joseph Blackburn in the late 1700's.