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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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National Trust
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(National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, London SW1)
Britain's foremost conservation body, owning in England, Wales and Northern Ireland about 200 houses which are open to the public (including some of the greatest *stately homes), more than 100 gardens, 50 villages and 230,000ha/570,000ac of countryside. It began as a private venture, founded by Octavia *Hill and others in 1895. The first two properties came through the gift of a small scenic coastal area in north Wales, and the purchase, for £10, of a 14C timber-frame clergy house in Alfriston, East Sussex.
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Open spaces and small houses remained the theme until the 1930s, when a threat to the nation's stately homes became evident. *Blickling Hall in Norfolk was the first to be given, with its contents, garden and lands. The pattern became established that only houses of the first quality would be accepted, that they must usually be given with sufficient endowment to cover all their costs, and that whenever possible the family should continue to live in the house with due access given to the public. In 1965 the Enterprise Neptune appeal was launched and the Trust now preserves more than 800km/500m of Britain's most beautiful stretches of coastal scenery.
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The Trust was incorporated by act of parliament in 1907 but remains an independent body, raising its own finances from endowments, admission charges and the annual subscriptions of a membership which has now risen to over two million.
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