National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
	; National Trust Logo
Abbreviation	National Trust
Motto	For ever, for everyone
Formation	1894
Legal status	Trust
Purpose/focus	To Look after Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty permanently for the benefit of the nation across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Headquarters	Swindon, United Kingdom
Location	United Kingdom
Official languages	English
Key people	H.R.H. The Prince of Wales; (President); Dame Helen Ghosh; (Director-General); Sir Simon Jenkins; (Chairman); Sir Laurie Magnus; (Deputy Chairman)
Main organ	Board of Trustees
Affiliations	Various Organisations in the Council
Staff	4,964
Volunteers	61,000
Website	www.nationaltrust.org.uk

For other National Trusts, see National Trust (disambiguation).

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust does not operate in Scotland, where there is an independent National Trust for Scotland.

According to its website:

"The National Trust works to preserve and protect the coastline, countryside and buildings of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We do this in a range of ways, through practical caring and conservation, through educating and informing, and through encouraging millions of people to enjoy their national heritage."^[1]

The trust owns many heritage properties, including historic houses and gardens, industrial monuments and social history sites. It is one of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom, owning many beauty spots, most of which are open to the public free of charge. It is the largest membership organisation in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest UK charities by both income and assets.

History[]

Governance[]

The Trust is an independent charity rather than a government institution (English Heritage and its equivalents in other parts of the United Kingdom are government bodies which perform some functions which overlap with the work of the National Trust).

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 1978 amended and extended the Trust's powers and remit. In 2005 the governance of the Trust was substantially changed under a scheme made by the Charity Commission.^[2]

National Trust properties[]

Historic houses and gardens[]

The Trust owns two hundred historic houses that are open to the public. The majority of them are country houses and most of the others are associated with famous individuals. The majority of these country houses contain collections of pictures, furniture, books, metalwork, ceramics and textiles that have remained in their historic context. Most of the houses also have important gardens attached to them, and the Trust also owns some important gardens not attached to a house. The properties include some of the most famous stately homes in the country and some of the key gardens in the history of British gardening.

The trust acquired the majority of its country houses in the mid 20th century, when death duties were at their most punitive. James Lees-Milne was secretary of the trust's Country House Committee in the key period either side of World War II. The arrangements made with families bequeathing their homes to the trust often allowed them to continue to live in part of the property. Since the 1980s the trust has been reluctant to take over large houses without substantial accompanying endowment funds, and its acquisitions in this category have been less frequent.

National Trust Places in the United Kingdom[]

For lists of properties see Wikipedia;

References[]

↑ National Trust: What we do
↑ The National Trust Acts 1907 - 1971 as varied by a Parliamentary Scheme implemented by The Charities (National Trust) Order 2005 - retrieved on 16 January 2008.

Bibliography[]

Fedden, Robin, Joekes, Rosemary, "The National Trust Guide to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland", Norton, 1973. ISBN 0-393-01876-8.

External links[]

The Preservation of Places of Interest or Beauty, (1907), lecture by Sir Robert Hunter
The National Trust Acts 1907-71^{[dead link]}
The National Trust website
The National Trust Conservatory Collection website
Annual report for 2004–05, including financial data (PDF document)^{[dead link]}
Annual report for 2005–06, including financial data (PDF document)^{[dead link]}
Intelligent Giving profile of The National Trust
The Royal Oak Foundation website
The Official National Trust Print Website

Video clips[]

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons by Attribution License and/or GNU Free Documentation License. Please check page history for when the original article was copied to Wikia

[1] National Trust: What we do

[2] The National Trust Acts 1907 - 1971 as varied by a Parliamentary Scheme implemented by The Charities (National Trust) Order 2005 - retrieved on 16 January 2008.

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