On every wall in every room in Berrington Hall, you can see works of art. Works of art that have been part of the fabric of the National Trust property for decades.

This year sees the addition of a strikingly contemporary installation, War and Pieces, by renowned ceramic artist Bouke de Vries, the latest new work to be displayed at the property. It follows last year's work at the property by Red Earth, who created a series of site-specific outdoor installations called ‘Genius Loci’; an artistic response to Capability Brown’s ingenious parkland design, his last. Both projects form part of Trust new Art, the National Trust's contemporary arts programme in partnership with Arts Council England, created to inspire visitors to see National Trust places in a new way through contemporary art.

War and Pieces can be seen in the Dining Room at Berrington Hall, a six-metre long piece, inspired by the sugar sculptures found on the tables of the wealthy in the 17th century.

By the early 18th century, sugar had been replaced by exquisitely crafted porcelain depicting allegorical, classical or architectural scenes that demonstrated the host's wealth at banquets, banquets which were often held for generals and their officers on the eve of great battles. And it is one of these war banquets that is recalled in War and Pieces, which features deconstructed porcelain figures engaged in a deadly struggle.

The work is made of broken antique porcelain and glassware as well as parts of children's plastic toys and sugar, bringing together the notions of modern warfare and art with those of the 18th and 19th centuries to make us consider what we think beautiful or useful.

The extraordinary scene of war is echoed by the maritime battles depicted on the walls in paintings by Thomas Luny that, says Ana Vaughan, visitor experience manager, visitors probably tend to walk past without giving them too much attention. But the installation on the table brings them into sharp focus, with plates on the dining table featuring the 90-gun ship The Formidable and cutlery with handles fashioned in a further reminder of the hardware of war.

Bouke de Vries is a Dutch artist who studied fashion and textiles before retraining as an art restorer. The act of giving life back to broken artworks is what led him to explore the deconstruction of objects and how they could be given new life. War and Pieces has been exhibited worldwide and will be at Berrington Hall until November this year.

In May, the property welcomes more art as an 18th century inspired pavilion appears in the gardens at Berrington, designed and created by internationally renowned artists Heather and Ivan Morison.

Berrington Hall, near Leominster. For further details visit nationaltrust.org.uk.