Review
The Landmark Trust Handbook The Landmark Trust
The freedom to live in the past by visiting some of the many stately homes in the British Isles is something many of us will have experienced until this year of social distancing; and who, when looking out of the window of the house they are visiting, has not imagined what it would be like to actually live in such a building and to look out at a beautiful view from that extraordinary place? Well, now you can. In 1965 philanthropist John Smith, and his wife Christian, founded the Landmark Trust. Together they aimed to try and prevent the loss of mainly smaller historic buildings which neither the National Trust nor the Ministry of Works could envisage taking on. John Smith was already a leading figure in the conservation world: a committed enthusiast for buildings and other historical structures. His experience led him to conclude that “a body was required to tackle cases too desperate, troublesome or unfashionable for anyone else”. Today the Landmark Trust’s portfolio of ‘Landmark’ buildings numbers almost 200 in England, Scotland and Wales, with a handful of additional properties in Belgium, Italy, France, and America. The Landmark Trust Handbook is a 250 page book in A4 format, attractively laid out, listing all the buildings in great detail with extensive description, maps, drawings and sumptuous full colour images of each. The properties are suitable for singles, couples or larger family or other groupings. The book’s opening pages are accounts of all aspects of work undertaken and stays enjoyed, including The Pigsty near Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire. A wooden building that was once a functioning home for pigs
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www.melbourncambridge.co.uk
