National Trust
The National Trust is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in the United Kingdom, operating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the permanent preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements of beauty or historic interest". It has since been given statutory powers, starting with the National Trust Act 1907. In its early days, the Trust usually acquired land by gift and sometimes by public subscription and appeal. After World War II, the loss of country houses resulted in many such properties being acquired either by gift from the former owners or through the National Land Fund.
One of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom, the Trust owns almost of land and 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 the public for a charge, while open spaces are free to all. The Trust had an annual income of nearly £724 million in 2023/24, 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 the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
History
Founders
The National 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 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 a provisional council, headed by Hill, Hunter, Rawnsley and Hugh Grosvenor, 1st 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 the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements of beauty or historic interest".
Early years
The National 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, 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 followed in 1919, 1937, 1939, 1953, and 1971.
In the early days, the trust was concerned primarily with the acquisition 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 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.
Expansion
In 1920 the National Trust lost the last of its three founders, Rawnsley. The Trust's of land in 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 bequeathed to 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 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 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 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.
The country house scheme
Bailey was followed as chairman of the National Trust by Lawrence Dundas, 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 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 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 after nearly seven years of negotiations. The house came with the village of Lacock and an endowment of.
The postwar years
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 National Trust of historic houses and land left to the government in payment of estate duty. The first open space acquired by 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: 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 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 David Lindsay, 28th 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 in 1945 to in 1965, with a further covenanted. In May 1945, the Trust's London headquarters had moved to premises in Queen Anne's Gate.