History and Landscape: The Guide to National Trust Properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland Book

The Guide has been described as the National Trust's bible - and indeed it is. The first edition was published in 1973, and there have been five subsequent editions, each fatter than the previous one, as the number and variety of the Trust's properties has grown. This new edition takes a larger, squarer format, to do full justice to the Trust's illustrious collection of colour photographs, and to showcase recent acquisitions such as the Gothic wonder of Tyntesfield, John Lennon's childhood home Mendips, and William Morris' Arts and Crafts Red House. The alphabetical arrangement of properties has been retained for easy reference. Magnificent landscapes, including the breathtaking coast of Cornwall, Snowdonia, the Peak District, and the lunar scenery of Strangford Lough, are set beside the Trust's great gardens such as Sissinghurst Castle in Kent and Stourhead Landscape Garden in Wiltshire. The Trust's country houses of course feature in all their varied beauty - from the Tudor splendour of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire through to the magnificent Victoriana at Cragside in Northumberland. Not everything is on such a grand scale; Lydia Greeves describes T.E. Lawrence's modest cottage at Clouds Hill in Dorset, a spade mill in Northern Ireland and even a duck decoy at Boarstall in Buckinghamshire. The new edition has two major new features. First, the maps are in full colour and relate much more closely to the text, to enable visitors to plan their vists easily. Second, a series of eighteen 'pictorial essays' is interwoven into the book. Using National Trust examples, each takes a general theme and provides a fascinating insight into specific areas of interest from romantic recreations and financing the house to Dutch art and the trials of war. This beautiful volume will not only be a bible for National Trust members but also an invaluable reference for visitors to Britain, real or virtual.Read More