The National Trust
T
he
National Trust is Britain's
largest charity. It was established in 1895 to preserve 'Places of Historic
Interest and Natural Beauty'. It is now one of the largest landowners in the
country, and owns over 612,000 acres of land and 575 miles of coastline throughout
England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although the National Trust is famous for
owning large estates and historic houses, the majority of the land it owns is
countryside and open space, open free of charge to the public at all times and
preserved in perpetuity. National Trust countryside properties include some
of the most beautiful and valuable countryside sites in the world.
The National Trust is completely independent of the government
and receives no direct funding.
Interestingly, the National Trust has the unique statutory
power to declare land inalienable - such land cannot be voluntarily sold, mortgaged
or compulsorily purchased against the Trust's wishes without special parliamentary
procedure.
There is an outstanding publication called The National Trust
Countryside Handbook giving excellent and comprehensive information about countryside
properties owned by the National Trust. It is available from the National Trust
or bookshops. The National Trust employs
many countryside professionals, including some specialists with a wealth of
knowledge. If you are interested in any piece of countryside owned by the National
Trust you may well find that a great deal of very good quality information is
available to you if you enquire of the local office.
National
Trust Website: the organisation's official home page and database, which
has a lot of information in it. It includes a searchable online version of the
members handbook, and has some superb photographs too. However, few countryside
sites are included in the database, which is a shame as there are so many of
them. However, perhaps reflecting the way in which the National Trust works,
there are a whole load of other semi-independent official websites produced
by the National Trust, which give all sorts of other information which you cannot
find on the main site. Here are some of the ones we know of:
National
Trust: Learning and Discovery: a delight to use, far better looking than
the main pages, and full of all sorts of useful stuff - including countryside
bits.
Essential
Tweed Monster Survival Guide
: a light-hearted article about the National
Trust by Naturenet editor, Matthew Chatfield.
• 4 million people are members of the National Trust
(2012).
• The National Trust is the UK's biggest private landowner. It owns 31 National
Nature Reserves
and 411 SSSIs.
• 519,725 schoolchildren visited National Trust properties in 1994.
• The National Trust owns more than 248,000 hectares (612,000 acres)
of countryside and 925 km (575 miles) of coast.
• In 1996 there were 12 million visits to National Trust properties.
The
National Trust for Scotland
is a separate organisation. Many other countries, particularly Commonwealth
ones, also have their own National Trusts which are similarly constituted -
most of these have reciprocal visiting arrangements so if you are a member of
one such Trust you can visit properties belonging to others for a reduced price
or for free.
The National Trust has a very popular scheme whereby some
of its buildings can be let as self-catering holiday cottages. They are often
in remote or very scenic areas, and usually in an unusual or old building. The
cost of these is slightly more than many other cottages, but the standard of
accommodation and particularly location is unbeatable. Visit
their website for more info.
Those in the USA who are interested in the National Trust
may wish to find out more about the Royal
Oak Foundation. This is an American not-for-profit charity which helps support
the National Trust in the UK. Members of the Royal Oak Foundation have similar
privileges to members of the National Trust- notably free entry to all Trust properties.
Depending on the exchange rate it can be a good deal if you are planning to visit
the UK. Royal Oak also awards scholarships to US residents to study in the UK,
and organises lectures and study tours in the US. Over 30,000 Americans are already
members of the Foundation.
For further information on how to become a NT volunteer:
Local volunteering
For local opportunities, contact the volunteers co-ordinator
at your nearest National Trust office or visit
the NT volunteers website.
Working Holidays (week-long/weekend residential projects)
For a current brochure, visit the NT working holidays website.
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