92-408: Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust property in the village of Lode , 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Cambridge , England . The property includes a country house , built on the remains of a priory , 98 acres (400,000 m) of gardens and landscaped grounds, and a working mill. The priory was closed in 1536 during the dissolution of the monasteries and a Jacobean-style house
184-567: A 19th-century chapel as the focus of the park, which also contains a lake with wooded islands, a stable block, glasshouses, and two classical temples. The first country house to be acquired by the Trust, the Elizabethan manor house Barrington Court in Somerset, was bought in 1907 and came in a dilapidated state and devoid of contents. The experience taught the Trust a salutary lesson about
276-574: A composting system to improve drainage and help retain water in a drought. Ten years later 95% of garden waste was composted. To the north-west of the house, a block of farm buildings was converted into a large bungalow, complete with a swimming pool, to serve as the Summer House for the Fairhaven family in the days when they used to occupy Anglesey Abbey house in the winter before they moved to Kirtling Tower in 2004. The grounds are bounded on
368-486: A crossing avenue at the far end. The trees used were London plane alternating with horse chestnut in four rows, copying those planted in Windsor Great Park . Storm damage in 1968 removed most of the plane trees leaving only the horse chestnut trees. The Temple Lawn was created in 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . In front of the house to the south there is a formal lawn and beyond it
460-576: A free entry. In 2018/19 there were 382,235 visitors to Anglesey Abbey, making it the eleventh most visited National Trust property open at a charge. In 1978 the mill was restored to working order by the Cambridgeshire Wind and Watermill Society and flour can be bought in the mill or the shop. A new visitor centre with a restaurant and shop was opened in 2008. Seasonal attractions include the winter lights festival, snowdrop and daffodil tours in spring, and summer outdoor cinema. In March 2020
552-480: A further 53,000 acres (21,000 ha) covenanted. In May 1945, the Trust's London headquarters had moved to premises in Queen Anne's Gate . In 1965 the Trust launched Enterprise Neptune , a campaign to raise funds to buy or acquire covenants over stretches of coastline and protect them from development. The project was successful, raising over £800,000 in its first year, but it had unforeseen consequences for
644-858: A joint venture with Arts Council England and Arts Council of Wales . As part of this programme, the Trust has worked with over 200 artists to create new artworks inspired by their places including: Jeremy Deller , Anya Gallaccio , Antony Gormley , Sir Richard Long , Serena Korda , Marcus Coates and Katie Paterson . The National Trust is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom. The Trust's land holdings account for almost 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres; 2,500 km ; 970 sq mi), mostly of countryside. A large part of this consists of parks and agricultural estates attached to country houses, but there are many countryside properties which were acquired specifically for their scenic or scientific value. The Trust owns or has covenant over about
736-453: A lawyer, John Hynde . The priory was largely demolished and materials used in the construction of Madingley Hall . The Fowkes family acquired the property in 1595 and converted what remained of the demolished priory into a Jacobean-style house. The walls of the chapter house were incorporated into the main part of the domestic dwelling, with the calefactory or monks' day room to the north left as an outbuilding. Subsequent owners included
828-703: A love of beautiful things among our poor brethren". Named after John Kyrle , the Kyrle Society campaigned for open spaces for the recreational use of urban dwellers, as well as having decorative, musical, and literary branches. Hunter had been solicitor to the Commons Preservation Society , while Rawnsley had campaigned for the protection of the Lake District . The idea of a company with the power to acquire and hold buildings and land had been mooted by Hunter in 1894. In July 1894
920-512: A private foundation; both are open to the public. Since its founding in 1895, the trust has gradually expanded its collection of art, mostly through whole property acquisitions. From 1956 until the post was removed in 2021, there was a curator of pictures and sculpture. The first was St John (Bobby) Gore, who was appointed "Adviser on Paintings" in 1956. He published catalogues of the pictures at Upton House , Polesden Lacey , Buscot Park , Saltram House , and Ascott House . His successor in 1986
1012-652: A provisional council, headed by Hill, Hunter, Rawnsley and the Duke of Westminster met at Grosvenor House and decided that the company should be named the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. Articles of association were submitted to the Board of Trade and on 12 January 1895, the Trust was registered under the Companies Act . Its purpose was to "promote the permanent preservation for
SECTION 10
#17327806909551104-574: A quarter of the Lake District ; it has similar control over about 12% of the Peak District National Park (e.g. South Peak Estate and High Peak Estate ). Most National Trust land, about 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres; 2,000 km ; 770 sq mi), consists of tenant or in-hand farms, where public access is restricted to rights of way and sometimes additional routes. At Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire,
1196-534: A series of Tudor portrait panels. Lord Fairhaven collected over 750 paintings, prints and drawings of Windsor Castle. His interest in the castle dates from his youth when his parents had a country house near Windsor, and from when he was later stationed at the castle with his regiment. The Windsor collection was catalogued by art historian Cyril Bunt in 1949. Although most of the paintings in Anglesey Abbey are by British artists, foreign artists are represented in
1288-415: A silver Shield of Achilles by John Flaxman . The library at Anglesey Abbey contains over 6000 books, mostly ordinary reading books in fine bindings with about a thousand collector's books. The 98 acres (400,000 m) of Grade II* listed landscaped grounds at Anglesey Abbey are divided into several avenues, walks, vistas, and gardens, with classical statuary and flowerbeds. It was Lord Fairhaven who laid out
1380-504: A staircase hall off the dining room, in 1939. In 1934 Lord Fairhaven bought and restored Lode Mill on the boundary of his property. The mill had been built in the 18th century but had been converted to grind cement rather than corn in 1900. Lord Fairhaven converted the grounds of Anglesey Abbey, which had been largely meadow and grazing land when the brothers bought the property, into an 18th-century style park with avenues of trees, flower gardens, statuary and ornaments. The final addition to
1472-654: A supporter of, and donor to, the Trust, which now owns the land she formerly owned in Cumbria . A refit of the premises to accommodate increasing staff numbers was announced in June 2019. In 2007, the bicentenary of the official abolition of the slave trade , the Trust published the article "Addressing the Past" in its quarterly magazine, examining aspects of the Trust's "hidden history" and finding ways of "reinterpreting some of its properties and collections". Research carried out by
1564-463: Is a British weekly perfect-bound glossy magazine that is published by Future plc . It was based in London at 110 Southwark Street until March 2016, when moved to Farnborough , Hampshire . In 2022, the magazine moved back to London at 121 – 141 Westbourne Terrace, Paddington. Country Life was launched in 1897, incorporating Racing Illustrated . At this time it was owned by Edward Hudson ,
1656-451: Is a meadow where earthworks mark the position of fishponds from the original priory. In 1964 American landscape gardener Lanning Roper wrote a book, The Gardens of Anglesey Abbey , in which he described the careful planning of the garden with its many vistas, avenues, rare and common trees, pools, statues and river temples. He describes how huge areas of sky and mown grass were used to balance symmetrical planting and how Lord Fairhaven used
1748-546: Is primarily concerned with rural communities and their environments as well as the concerns of country dwellers and landowners and has a diverse readership which, although mainly UK based is also international. The other rural pursuits and interests covered include hunting , shooting , farming , equestrian news and gardening and there are regular news and opinion pieces as well as rural politics. There are reviews of books , food and wine , art and architecture and antiques and crafts . Illustrative material includes
1840-509: Is represented by paintings by Alfred Munnings , including a picture of a drum horse of the 1st Life Guards (Lord Fairhaven's old regiment), and a portrait by Oswald Birley of Lord Fairhaven in the ceremonial uniform of his regiment. There are paintings by John Constable , Thomas Gainsborough (a rare seascape), Richard Parkes Bonington , Edwin Landseer and the Pether family as well as
1932-539: The Chelsea Flower Show . In 1999, the magazine launched a new website. In 2007, the magazine celebrated its 110th anniversary with a special souvenir issue on 4 January. Since May 2008 the magazine has been issued each Wednesday, having been on sale each Thursday for the past 111 years. The first several dozen pages of each issue are devoted to colour advertisements for upmarket residential property The magazine covers various aspects of rural life. It
SECTION 20
#17327806909552024-638: The National Lottery Heritage Fund , and £3.5 million from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . In recognition of National Lottery funding, the Trust invited lottery ticket holders to visit over 100 properties free of charge for a few days in November 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Trust also takes part in the annual Heritage Open Days programme, when non-members can visit selected properties free of charge. In
2116-413: The National Lottery Heritage Fund . The Trust was incorporated on 12 January 1895 as the "National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty", which is still the organisation's legal name. The founders were social reformer Octavia Hill , solicitor Sir Robert Hunter and clergyman Hardwicke Rawnsley . In 1876, Hill, together with her sister Miranda Hill , had set up a society to "diffuse
2208-753: The Soil Association , the Royal Horticultural Society and the Council for British Archaeology . The members periodically vote on the organisations which may appoint half of the council. Members may also propose and vote on motions at the annual general meeting. At an operational level, the Trust is organised into regions which are aligned with the official local government regions of the UK. Its headquarters are in Swindon. In 2019/20
2300-635: The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal . The Trust was persuaded to take on the scheme by John Smith and the work was carried out by hundreds of volunteers. Between 1945 and 1965 the Trust, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Crawford , saw a growth in its membership from 7,850 to 157,581 and growth in its staff from 15 to 450. The area of land owned by the Trust increased from 112,000 acres (45,000 ha) in 1945 to 328,000 acres (133,000 ha; 1,330 km ; 512 sq mi) in 1965, with
2392-528: The Tottering-by-Gently cartoon by Annie Tempest . Recent feature articles have included Charles, Prince of Wales guest-editing an issue of Country Life in 2013, a historic revelation which revealed the true face of Shakespeare for the first time in 2015, and in 2016 an exclusive on where the Great Fire of London began in 1666. There was a special commemorative issue in June 2016 on
2484-527: The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 led to greater cooperation between local authorities and the Trust, while the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 allowed the Trust to receive government grants for the upkeep and maintenance of historic buildings on the same terms as other owners. A major project, begun in 1959 and completed in 1964, was the restoration of the southern section of
2576-483: The 13th century; the "oak room" with its oak panelling and plaster ceiling copied from that of the Reindeer Inn at Banbury ; the dining room formed from the monks' day room; the tapestry hall; the service wing; the library, where various royal visitors have engraved their names on a window; several first floor bedrooms; and the two-storey picture gallery. Furniture includes an Italian Renaissance refectory table in
2668-523: The 1930s and 1940s, the Trust benefited from the unconventional fundraising tactics of Ferguson's Gang ; a group of women with pseudonyms such as Bill Stickers and Red Biddy who wore disguises and carried out stunts when delivering money to the Trust. Their donations enabled the Trust to purchase various properties including Shalford Mill , in Surrey , and Newtown Old Town Hall , on the Isle of Wight . Bailey
2760-574: The 1970s, tea rooms and souvenir shops were opened in Trust properties, and in 1984 a company was set up to operate the trading activities. Programmes of events, including plays and concerts, and educational activities were organised at Trust properties. In 1986 the Trust appointed its first female chairman, Dame Jennifer Jenkins. When the Trust reached its centenary in 1995 it owned or looked after 223 houses, 159 gardens, 670,000 acres (270,000 ha; 2,700 km ; 1,050 sq mi) of open countryside, and 530 miles (850 km) of coastline. In
2852-599: The 1990s, there was a dispute within the Trust over stag hunting , which was the subject of much debate at annual general meetings. The Trust banned stag hunting on its land in 1997. In 2002 the Trust bought its first country house in more than a decade. Tyntesfield , a Victorian Gothic mansion in Somerset, was acquired with donations from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as members of
Anglesey Abbey - Misplaced Pages Continue
2944-540: The 24 directors of the East India Company from 1717 to 1721. National Trust The National Trust ( Welsh : Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol ; Irish : Iontaobhas Náisiúnta ) is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England , Wales and Northern Ireland . The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill , Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote
3036-509: The Cambridge carrier Thomas Hobson (of "Hobson's Choice"), his son-in-law barrister Thomas Parker and descendants, Cambridgeshire MP Samuel Shepheard and his daughter Lady Irvine, and George Leonard Jenyns . Owners did not always occupy the house themselves; it was leased out as a farmhouse at times. By the time Thomas Parker died in 1643 the property was known as Anglesey Abbey, rather than Priory. In 1848 Reverend John Hailstone, vicar of
3128-435: The Fairhaven coat-of-arms. There are a large number of clocks in the house with pride of place going to a four-tier pagoda-shaped clock in the living room. The art collection at Anglesey Abbey reflects Lord Fairhaven's taste for British painting of the nineteenth century and earlier, with a particular fondness for views of Windsor Castle , landscapes, animal and bird paintings, and nudes by William Etty . The twentieth century
3220-756: The Lake District were augmented by gifts in his memory, including part of the Great Wood on Derwentwater . In 1923 literary critic John Bailey took over as chairman of the Trust. Under his chairmanship, the Trust saw an increase in funds, membership, and properties. The 1920s saw the acquisition of more archaeological sites, including Cissbury Ring in West Sussex , and early buildings, including two medieval castles ( Bodiam Castle in East Sussex and Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire ) bequeathed to
3312-596: The Trust as the project director, Conrad Rawnsley (a former naval commander and grandson of one of the Trusts' founders, Hardwicke Rawnsley), fell out with the administration of the Trust and conducted a public attack against it. An extraordinary general meeting was called in February 1967 and, although the reform group's resolutions were defeated, the Trust recognised the need for change and set up an advisory committee to look at their management and organisation. The committee
3404-529: The Trust by Lord Curzon . In 1925 the Trust launched a national appeal to buy the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire , successfully raising a record £80,000. When Bailey died in 1931 The Times paid tribute to him: "The strong position which the National Trust now occupies is largely due to him, and it will perhaps never be known how many generous gifts of rural beauty and historic interest
3496-401: The Trust has been increasingly reluctant to take over large houses without substantial accompanying endowment funds, and its acquisitions in this category have been less frequent, with only two, Tyntesfield and Seaton Delaval Hall , since 2000. As well as great country houses, the Trust also owns smaller properties, many of them associated with famous people. Examples include: Cherryburn ,
3588-604: The Trust revealed in 2020 that 93, nearly one third, of their houses and gardens had connections with colonialism and historic slavery: 'this includes the global slave trades, goods and products of enslaved labour, abolition and protest, and the East India Company'. The report attracted controversy and the Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the Trust in September 2020 to examine
3680-475: The Trust the unique statutory power to declare land inalienable . This prevents the land from being sold or mortgaged against the Trust's wishes without special parliamentary procedure. The inalienability of trust land was over-ridden by Parliament in the case of proposals to construct a section of the Plympton bypass through the park at Saltram , on the grounds that the road proposal had been known about before
3772-508: The Trust under the Land scheme was farmland at Hartsop in the Lake District; the first country house was Cotehele in Cornwall. Later acquisitions included Hardwick Hall , Ickworth House , Penrhyn Castle and Sissinghurst Castle Garden . The Land Fund was replaced in 1980 by the National Heritage Memorial Fund . The work of the Trust was aided by further legislation during this period:
Anglesey Abbey - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-416: The Trust was employing 14,000 staff, including about 4,000 seasonal workers. Since 2009, customer services have been outsourced to Capita . The director-general of the Trust, Hilary McGrady, is paid an annual salary of £195,700, with a further eight executives being paid over £100,000 a year. The Trust is not a real living wage employer. In July 2020 the Trust announced that 1,200 jobs were at risk due to
3956-506: The Trust's collections include Rembrandt (whose Self-portrait wearing a white feathered bonnet which is now displayed at Buckland Abbey was recently re-attributed to the artist), Hieronymous Bosch , El Greco , Peter Paul Rubens , Angelica Kauffmann , and Stanley Spencer . From the 1980s to 2001 the Trust commissioned artists to create works depicting National Trust places with their "Foundation for Art", and in 2009 launched its contemporary art programme entitled "Trust New Art" in
4048-461: The Trust's powers and remit. The governance of the Trust was amended by the Charities (National Trust) Order 2005. The Trust is governed by a board of trustees (of between nine and fifteen members), appointed and overseen by a council consisting of eighteen people elected by the members of the Trust and eighteen appointed by other organisations whose work is related to that of the Trust, such as
4140-599: The Trust. In 1934 the Trust acquired its first village, West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire , which was donated to the Trust by the Royal Society of Arts , which had bought it from Sir John Lindsay Dashwood five years previously. Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire was donated to the Trust in 1939 with an estate including the village of Styal , which had been built for the mill workers by Samuel Greg . During
4232-470: The Trust. The scheme allowed owners to escape estate duty on their country house and on the endowment which was necessary for the upkeep of the house, while they and their heirs could continue to live in the property, providing the public were allowed some access. The first house offered under the scheme was Stourhead in Wiltshire, although it was not acquired by the Trust until after the death in 1947 of
4324-482: The Windsor collection and there are also flower pieces by Ambrosius Bosschaert and Jean-Baptiste de Fontenay , as well as three paintings by Claude Lorrain . Sculpture in the collection includes 18th-century marble horses, a 15th-century continental wooden figure of St Jerome, a bronze bull by Antoine-Louis Barye , and a collection of bronzes by R. Tait McKenzie , Frederic Leighton , Alfred Gilbert and others, and
4416-476: The barony that was about to be bestowed on his father, Urban H. Broughton , when he died) as the last private owner of Anglesey Abbey. Lord Fairhaven made extensive additions to the house to provide room for his rapidly expanding collection of books, paintings, tapestries, clocks, furniture and objets d'art. The library wing, designed by Sidney Parvin, was added in 1937 and was followed by the Tapestry Hall,
4508-567: The benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest". The Trust acquired its first land in early 1895; Dinas Oleu, on the clifftop above Barmouth in Wales, was donated by Fanny Talbot , a friend of Rawnsley. The Trust's first building was acquired the following year; Alfriston Clergy House , a 14th-century house in the Sussex village of Alfriston ,
4600-501: The childhood home of Paul McCartney ; 251 Menlove Avenue , the childhood home of John Lennon , was bought by Yoko Ono in 2002 and donated to the Trust. The Birmingham Back to Backs are an example of working-class housing preserved by the Trust. Some properties have individual arrangements with the Trust, so for example Wakehurst Place is managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and Waddesdon Manor by
4692-479: The closure in March 2020 of National Trust houses, shops, and cafes, closely followed by all gated parks and gardens. At the same time, the Trust launched the # BlossomWatch campaign which encouraged people to share images on social media of blossoms seen on lockdown walks. Parks and gardens started to re-open from June 2020. In 2021, a group of members started a campaign, Restore Trust , to debate concerns about
SECTION 50
#17327806909554784-527: The coronavirus pandemic. In October 2020 the Trust announced 1,300 job losses. For the year ended February 2020, the total income of the Trust was £680.95 million. The largest sources of income were membership subscriptions (£269.7 million), direct property income (£196.9 million), enterprise and renewable energy income (£79.3 million), and legacies (£61.6 million). The Trust also received £20.8 million in grants, including £5.6 million from Natural England , £4.3 million from
4876-806: The cottage in Northumberland where Thomas Bewick was born; Smallhythe Place in Kent, home to Ellen Terry ; Shaw's Corner in Hertfordshire, the country home of George Bernard Shaw . The home of architect Ernő Goldfinger , 2 Willow Road in Hampstead , London, was the first example of Modernist architecture to be acquired by the Trust. In 1995 the Trust bought 20 Forthlin Road in Liverpool ,
4968-537: The dining room, chairs embroidered by Lord Fairhaven's mother in the living room, a white japanned Chippendale dressing table that once belonged to actor David Garrick in one of the bedrooms, and bookshelves made from the piles of John Rennie's Waterloo Bridge in the library. The tapestry collection includes, as well as seventeenth-century works, one commissioned by Lord Fairhaven from the Cambridge Tapestry Company depicting Anglesey Abbey and
5060-584: The drive to the house. Reverend Hailstone lived in the house after his resignation as vicar of Bottisham in 1861 until he died in 1877. His widow sold it in 1888 to the Reverend James George Clark, who lived there with his family until 1912, when he was given a living in Hertfordshire and tenants were found for Anglesey Abbey. Anglesey Abbey was sold in 1926 to two brothers, Urban Huttleston Broughton (later 1st Baron Fairhaven) and Henry Rogers Broughton, who purchased it for its proximity to
5152-633: The early days, the Trust was concerned primarily with the acquisition (by gift or purchase) of open spaces and a variety of threatened buildings. The buildings were generally of modest size, an exception being Barrington Court in Somerset , the Trust's first large country house. Two of the sites acquired by the Trust in its early years later became nature reserves: Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire and Blakeney Point in Norfolk , both purchased with
5244-488: The former owners or through the National Land Fund . One of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom, the Trust owns almost 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres; 2,500 km ; 970 sq mi) of land and 780 miles (1,260 km) of coast. Its properties include more than 500 historic houses, castles, archaeological and industrial monuments, gardens, parks, and nature reserves . Most properties are open to
5336-607: The future of the charity. At the Trust's 2023 annual general meeting the Restore Trust Group put up three candidates for the council and two resolutions, but all were rejected by the membership. The trust is an independent charity (no. 205846). It was founded as a not-for-profit company in 1895, but was later re-incorporated by a private Act of Parliament , the National Trust Act 1907. Subsequent acts of Parliament between 1919 and 1971 amended and extended
5428-485: The grounds in the style of an eighteenth-century park. He was responsible for replanting the rose garden and creating the dahlia garden, the herbaceous garden, the hyacinth garden and the Narcissus garden (so called because it has a statue of Narcissus in it) for seasonal bedding. To commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, Lord Fairhaven planted an extensive avenue of trees with
5520-505: The help of a donation by naturalist and banker Charles Rothschild . White Barrow on Salisbury Plain was the Trust's first archaeological monument, purchased in 1909 for £60. By 1914 the Trust, operating out of a small office in London, had 725 members and had acquired 63 properties, covering 5,814 acres (2,353 ha). In 1920 the Trust lost the last of its three founders, Rawnsley. The Trust's 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land in
5612-546: The home farm is open to the public. The Trust also owns forests, woods, downs, and moorland. These areas are generally open to the public free of charge, as are some of the parks attached to country houses (others have an admission charge). The Trust owns or protects roughly one-fifth of the coastline in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (780 miles (1,260 km)), and has a long-term campaign, Project Neptune , which seeks to acquire more. The National Trust Acts grant
SECTION 60
#17327806909555704-428: The horse-racing town of Newmarket and their stud at Great Barton near Bury St Edmunds . The brothers had inherited a fortune from their maternal grandfather, an American oil baron Henry Huttleston Rogers , and could live a life of leisure devoting themselves to owning and breeding racehorses , collecting art and creating gardens. The brothers made several alterations to the house soon after they bought it, converting
5796-407: The house and its contents to the National Trust. Anglesey Abbey was built on the remains of a priory of Augustinian Canons regular , which was founded as a hospital of St Mary during the reign of Henry I (i.e., between 1100 and 1135) and endowed as a priory by Richard de Clare in 1212. The priory was closed in 1536 during the dissolution of the monasteries . Three years later it was granted to
5888-411: The house is also notable for its contents. Lord Fairhaven's collection includes furniture, paintings and sculptures, clocks, tapestries, books, and objets d'art and, according to the author of a guide to Anglesey Abbey, expresses "an eclectic taste and refreshing disregard for fashion". Rooms open to the public include the living room that initially formed the chapter house of the monastery and dates from
5980-508: The house, a two-storey picture gallery designed by Sir Albert Richardson , was completed in 1956. When Lord Fairhaven died in 1966, Anglesey Abbey was left to the National Trust together with an endowment of £300,000. Lord Fairhaven had stated in his will that the house should be preserved as "a complete and furnished entity so that it retains as far as possible the character of an English Home". In addition to its Grade I listing ,
6072-411: The magazine covers a range of subjects, from gardens and gardening to country house architecture, art and books, and property to rural issues, luxury products and interiors. In 1997, the centenary of the magazine was celebrated by a special issue, the publishing of a book by Roy Strong , the broadcast of a BBC2 TV programme on a year in the life of the magazine, and staging a Gold Medal-winning garden at
6164-426: The monks' day room from an entrance hall into a dining room, moving the front porch, adding a stone newell staircase and putting in fireplaces and panelling. The work was done by architect Sidney Parvin from the London firm of interior designers Turner Lord, and featured in a 1930 edition of Country Life . Henry moved out when he married in 1932, leaving his older brother, by then Lord Fairhaven (having been given
6256-475: The most visited National Trust country house in 2019/20, is set in typical grounds with a walled garden and extensive parkland planted with trees to the designs of Humphry Repton . The most visited National Trust property in England in 2019/20 for which an admission charge is made was Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, a park without a country house. Clumber House was largely demolished in 1938, leaving
6348-570: The nation owes, directly or indirectly, to his persuasive enthusiasm." The Trust, which already owned a large area of the Lake District, acquired its first piece of land in the Peak District in 1930. Four years later, Ilam Hall was presented to the Trust for use as a youth hostel . The 1930s saw an expansion of the Trust's interest in coastal conservation, with more than thirty small coastal properties in Devon and Cornwall alone given to
6440-399: The need for endowments to cover the costs of the upkeep of country houses. The Trust acquired the majority of its country houses in the mid 20th century, when death duties were at their highest and many country houses were being demolished . The arrangements made with families bequeathing their homes to the Trust often allowed them to continue to live in the property. Since the 1980s,
6532-476: The neighbouring parish of Bottisham , son of botanist Samuel Hailstone and nephew of a geologist John Hailstone , purchased Anglesey Abbey and carried out restorations, converting the monks' day room into an entrance hall, adding a service wing and building a stable block from remaining medieval masonry. Several sketches he made of the house survive. He was also responsible for planting trees, including cedars , wellingtonia , weeping elm and silver lime , along
6624-418: The northwest by Bottisham Lode, with Lode Mill, bought and restored by Lord Fairhaven in 1934, at its head. To the south of the mill is the quarry pool, a large pool believed to be the site of a 19th-century coprolite mine . Anglesey Abbey, officially known as Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill, was until 2020 open to the public all year round. There is an admission charge, with National Trust members having
6716-484: The occasion of the Queen's 90th birthday. In March 2016, Country Life was featured in a three-part documentary series produced by Spun Gold which aired on BBC2 called Land of Hope and Glory, British Country Life . Deputy editors: Architectural editors [dates as architectural writer]: Gardens editors: (earlier versions cited Fred Whitsey as a gardens editor, but he was a distinguished contributor only, being in fact
6808-516: The owner of Lindisfarne Castle and various Lutyens -designed houses including The Deanery in Sonning ; in partnership with George Newnes Ltd (in 1905 Hudson bought out Newnes). At that time golf and racing served as its main content, as well as the property coverage, initially of manorial estates, which is still such a large part of the magazine. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , the late Queen Mother, used to appear frequently on its front cover. Now
6900-431: The owners Sir Henry and Lady Hoare . The first property to be actually handed over to the Trust under the scheme was a relatively modern house: Wightwick Manor near Wolverhampton had been built just fifty years earlier. Lacock Abbey , also in Wiltshire, was another early acquisition, handed to the Trust by Matilda Talbot (granddaughter of Henry Fox Talbot ) after nearly seven years of negotiations. The house came with
6992-677: The park at Saltram was declared inalienable. In 2017 the Trust, in spite of criticism by members, supported the government's scheme to build a road tunnel under the Stonehenge World Heritage Site as part of the plans to upgrade the A303 road. The scheme would involve the compulsory purchase of land held inalienably by the Trust. The Trust's 2022–2023 Annual Reports lists all properties open at charge with more than 50,000 visitors. The top ten are: Country Life (magazine) Country Life (stylised in all caps )
7084-436: The permanent preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest". It has since been given statutory powers, starting with the National Trust Act 1907. Historically, the Trust acquired land by gift and sometimes by public subscription and appeal, but after World War II the loss of country houses resulted in many such properties being acquired either by gift from
7176-615: The property was closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic , with the gardens and park re-opening in June 2020. Anglesey Abbey was featured in the National Trust's 2020 Interim Report on the Connections between Colonialism and Properties now in the Care of the National Trust, Including Links with Historic Slavery since Samuel Shepheard, who bought the property in 1739 but did not live there or make any additions to it, had been one of
7268-417: The public for a charge (members have free entry), while open spaces are free to all. The Trust has an annual income of over £680 million, largely from membership subscriptions, donations and legacies, direct property income, profits from its shops and restaurants, and investments. It also receives grants from a variety of organisations including other charities, government departments, local authorities, and
7360-488: The public. Three years later, in 2005, the Trust acquired another country house, Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland. In 2005, the Trust moved to Heelis , a new head office in Swindon , Wiltshire. The building was constructed on the site of the former Great Western Railway factory and is intended as a model of brownfield renewal. The name Heelis is taken from the married name of children's author Beatrix Potter ,
7452-487: The publication of the report, much of the administration of the Trust was devolved to the regions. The last three decades of the 20th century saw a large increase in membership of the Trust from 160,000 in 1968 to over two million by the time of its centenary in 1995, much of it down to the Trust's employment of a director of public relations, as recommended by the Benson report, and regional information officers. Starting in
7544-721: The sites of factories and mines, 9 lighthouses, 56 villages, 39 public houses, and 25 medieval barns. Most of the land is farmed, either in-hand or by tenant farmers. The Trust also rents out holiday cottages, which are given a rating of 1–5 Acorns to reflect the quality of the property. The Trust owns more than 200 historic houses that are open to the public. Most of them are large country houses or stately homes set in gardens and parks. They contain collections of pictures, furniture, books, metalwork, ceramics, and textiles that have remained in their historic context. Service wings are preserved at many houses. Attingham Park in Shropshire,
7636-525: The slave trade in the wake of the murder of George Floyd . Between 2008 and 2013, the National Trust in Devon was defrauded of over £1 million by one of its employees. Building surveyor Roger Bryant was convicted in September 2024 of having submitted false invoices to the Trust and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. The fraud had only come to light when the Trust decided to update its procurement procedures in 2013. The COVID-19 pandemic led to
7728-610: The trees and shrubs to make groups of contrasting colour and foliage. Three generations of the local Ayres family have worked in the gardens since 1921, with Noel and Richard becoming head gardeners. A Winter Garden was opened in 1998 in Lord Fairhaven's memory. In 2013 Richard Todd, head gardener at Anglesey Abbey since 1974, received the British Empire Medal for his years of service to the trust and national heritage. In 1999 he had been responsible for establishing
7820-523: The trustees' decision-making. The Charity Commission concluded that there were no grounds for regulatory action against the Trust. In 2020 the Dunham Massey Hall sundial statue of "a kneeling African figure clad in leaves carrying the sundial above his head" was removed from its position in front of Dunham Massey Hall after calls were made for the removal of statues in Britain with links to
7912-458: The village of Lacock and an endowment of 300 acres (120 ha). After World War II the National Land Fund was set up by the government as a "thank-offering for victory" with the purpose of using money from the sale of surplus war stores to acquire property in the national interest. The scheme also allowed for the transfer to the Trust of historic houses and land left to the government in payment of estate duty. The first open space acquired by
8004-687: The year ending February 2020, the Trust had 5.95 million members (2.78 million memberships). Members are entitled to free entry to trust properties that are open to the public for a charge. There is a separate organisation called the Royal Oak Foundation for American supporters. The trust is supported by volunteers, who, as of 2020, numbered over 53,000. As of 2020, the Trust owns almost 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres; 2,500 km ; 970 sq mi) of land, 780 miles (1,260 km) of coast, more than 200 historic houses, 41 castles and chapels, 47 industrial monuments and mills,
8096-568: Was Alastair Laing, who cared for the works of art at 120 properties and created the exhibition In Trust for the Nation , held at the National Gallery in 1995–96. From 2009 until 2021, the curator was David Taylor, who approved photographs of the Trust's 12,567 oil paintings to be included in the Public Catalogue Foundation 's searchable online archive of oil paintings, available since 2012. Artists represented in
8188-455: Was bought for £10 and required a further £350 for repairs. In 1907 Hunter drafted the first National Trust Act, which was passed by Parliament and gave the Trust the power to declare its land inalienable, meaning that it could not be sold without parliamentary approval. In addition, the Act enabled the Trust to make by-laws . Further Acts would follow in 1919, 1937, 1939, 1953, and 1971. In
8280-418: Was built on the site of the ruins in about 1600. Owners down the centuries included Thomas Hobson and his Parker descendants, and three local clergymen. The last private owner was Lord Fairhaven who lived in the house from 1926 until he died in 1966. He made extensive additions to the house to accommodate his collection of furniture, art, books and objets d'art and landscaped the grounds. On his death, he left
8372-404: Was chaired by accountant Sir Henry Benson , who was independent of the Trust. The other three members, Len Clark , Sir William Hayter , and Patrick Gibson , were all on the Trust's council. The Benson report was published in 1968 and, although broadly endorsing the Trust's policy, recommended a number of organisational changes, which were then embodied in the National Trust Act of 1971. Following
8464-582: Was followed as chairman of the Trust by the 2nd Marquess of Zetland , and in 1936 the Trust set up the Country Houses Committee, with James Lees-Milne as secretary, to look into ways of preserving country houses and gardens at a time when their owners could no longer afford to maintain them. A country house scheme was set up and the National Trust Acts of 1937 and 1939 facilitated the transfer of estates from private owners to
#954045