The Bowes Museum has begun the restoration of their famous 250-year-old mechanical silver swan.

The Cumbria Clock Company have removed the head and neck of the silver creature to carry out delicate restorative work.

All of the work is being funded by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Pictures of the process show exactly how complex the old machinery is and how each piece has been carefully labelled for restoration.

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The stunning piece of machinery was first shown in James Cox’s Museum of Mechanical Marvels in London during 1773.

The last performance of the swan was in 2020, when the pandemic stopped further performances.

The Northern Echo: The neck of the silver swan at Bowes Museum

Getting the swan back to full health is expected to cost more than £400,000, with the project given just over £145k from the National Lottery.

The rest of the money will hopefully be raised in the run up to Christmas.

The Northern Echo: The head of the silver swan

Hannah Fox, The Bowes Museum’s Executive Director, previously said: "Thank you to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting this project, we are delighted with the outcome of our grant application.

"The Silver Swan is incredibly important to our communities. We can’t wait to get started and inspire the next generation of artists, makers, designers and inventors."

The Northern Echo: The head of the silver swan

There will be a series of projects for the public to get involved with from talks to workshops in the run up to Christmas.

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Bowes Museum Director of Programmes and Collections, Vicky Sturrs, said: "It is fantastic that we have received this funding allowing us to bring the Silver Swan back to life.

"It's only fitting that as an automaton, we should ensure that it continues to operate otherwise we risk it becoming just another object - albeit a very beautiful one but not the kind it was intended to be.

"We also have to be mindful that as a delicate, fragile and old machine we must ensure that the work is carried out sympathetically and sustainably to allow future generations to enjoy it operating for another 250 years."