Editing Blickling Hall (section)

== Recent history ==
During [[World War II]] the house was requisitioned and served as the Officers' Mess of nearby [[RAF Oulton]]. After the death of [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian]] (the last private owner of Blickling) in December 1940, the Blickling estate passed into the care of the National Trust as part of his bequest,<ref name=Lot>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate/things-to-see-and-do/events/more-seasonal-events/ Lord Lothian exhibition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626120000/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate/things-to-see-and-do/events/more-seasonal-events/ |date=26 June 2015 }} Retrieved 25 June 2015</ref> under the terms of the Country Houses Scheme. [[RAF]] servicemen and women were billeted within the grounds in [[Nissen huts]], whilst officers were housed in the house itself. The adjacent lake was used by RAF service personnel to practise dinghy drills during the Second World War.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bowman|first1=Martin|title=100 Group (Bomber support): RAF Bomber Command in World War II|date=2006|publisher=Pen & Sword|location=Barnsley|isbn=1-84415-418-1|page=127|edition=1}}</ref> The National Trust has created the RAF Oulton Museum on site in tribute to the RAF pilots and ground crew who served in the Second World War, and this may be visited for no additional entrance fee.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

At the end of the war, the house was de-requisitioned. The National Trust again let it to tenants until 1960, when the Trust began work to restore the house to a style reflecting its history. The house and grounds were opened to the public in 1962 and remain open under the name of "Blickling Estate". During 2019, the site received 225,624 visitors.<ref name="ALVA 2019 visitor numbers">{{cite web |title=ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=www.alva.org.uk |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref>

In 2015 the National Trust marked the 75th anniversary of Philip Kerr's death with a celebration of his life and times.<ref name=Lot />

Work began in October 2015 to introduce a [[heat pump]] system, using residual warmth from the estate's lake. Tubing, filled with a plant-based [[glycol]], would be placed in the lake and the resulting liquid pumped into the house for further warming, enabling the heating of large parts of the house. The Trust estimated the project would save some 25,000 litres of oil each year, with cost savings in the region of £16,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=Sophie Biddle |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/in_depth_look_at_how_blickling_hall_is_set_to_be_heated_using_its_lake_1_4145079 |title=In-depth look at how Blickling Hall is set to be heated using its lake – Environment – Eastern Daily Press |publisher=Edp24.co.uk |date=9 July 2015 |access-date=28 October 2015 |archive-date=25 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125212556/http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/in_depth_look_at_how_blickling_hall_is_set_to_be_heated_using_its_lake_1_4145079 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Blickling Hall, Norfolk: Lake Source Heat Pump: Historic Impact Assessment for the National Trust |date=May 2015 |url=http://www.broadland.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning%20Application/685000/685638/20150920%20Historic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |publisher=Broadland District Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093711/http://www.broadland.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning%20Application/685000/685638/20150920%20Historic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2015 }}</ref>

In February 2021, it was reported that the parasitic wasp species ''[[Trichogramma evanescens]]'' was being deployed to the hall in an attempt to prevent damage to various artworks there, including a tapestry from [[Catherine the Great]], caused by difficulties controlling the [[Tineola bisselliella|common clothes moth]]. In conjunction with this, chemicals to confuse the moths' mating behaviour would also be used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-56086274|title=Blickling Hall: Wasps deployed to protect mansion from moths|date=17 February 2021 |work=BBC News |access-date=17 February 2021}}</ref>