Celebrating 125 years
As Europe’s largest conservation charity celebrates a milestone birthday, Sophie Farrah finds out more about its visionary founders...
There is no doubt that nature has provided us with much solace throughout the ongoing pandemic.
Over recent months we have taken to our gardens in droves, flooded local parks and flocked to beauty spots across the country, so it seems rather apt that 2020, for all its flaws, also marks the 125th anniversary of the National Trust.
©National Trust Images/John Hammond John Hammond
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Oil painting on canvas, Octavia Hill (1838 - 1912) (after Sargent) by Reginald Grenville Eves, RA (London 1876 ? Middleton in Teesdale 1941), after John Singer Sargent (Florence 1856 - London 1925), 1920-1921. A copy (notes in NPG copy books [NPG77/5] that R. G. Eves of St Edmund's Terrace, Regent's Park, visited room 25 to copy NPG 1746 between 2nd December 1920 and 31st January 1921 - and taken away unfinished on 11/3/21) after the original painting, of 1898, commissioned from Sargent by her friends and was given to her on her sixtieth birthday, and susequently bequeathed to the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Over a century ago, the Trust was founded with just 100 members; today there are close to six million, as well 65,000 volunteers and 14,000 staff, with responsibility for 250,000 hectares of farmland, 780 miles of coastline and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves, which range from iconic natural heritage sites such as the Giant’s Causeway, Snowdonia and the White Cliffs of Dover, to entire villages, pubs, a Regency playhouse and even the childhood homes of The Beatles.
Unbeknownst to many, Europe’s largest conservation charity was the brainchild of just three passionate individuals: Octavia Hil, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.
Born in Cambridgeshire in 1838, Octavia Hill was a social reformer, artist and activist who worked to protect green spaces and improve urban housing. She was a keen campaigner for open spaces for the urban masses: “a few acres where the hilltop enables the Londoner to rise above the smoke, to feel a refreshing air for a little time and to see the sun setting in coloured glory”.
She believed that without peace, beauty and open space, “we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us gently.” Poignant words indeed – and just as relevant today.
Whilst campaigning to save London’s Swiss Cottage Fields from development, Octavia met Sir Robert Hunter, a solicitor for the Commons Preservation Society and together they went on to press for the protection of other open spaces across the capital.
They were joined by an Anglican priest, poet, local politician and conservationist, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, who was renowned for his efforts to improve life for working people and to make access to the countryside available to everyone.
On January 12, 1895, this dynamic trio founded the National Trust so that green spaces could “be kept for the enjoyment, refreshment, and rest of those who have no country house”.
Within a few weeks of the Trust being registered, it was bestowed its very first site – five acres of clifftop at Dinas Oleu in Wales. Shortly after, in 1896, it purchased its first property, Alfriston Clergy House in Sussex, for a mere £10.
Initially, the Trust’s focus was on securing common land in response to industrialisation, but after the Second World War, its focus changed to country houses.
At that time, one was being demolished every five days, and the threat of losing such an important part of cultural heritage went on to preoccupy the Trust for the next three and a half decades.
In the 1960s, it was the turn of coastline, threatened by over-development from industry and the growth of the seaside economy. The Trust responded with a fundraising campaign, Enterprise Neptune.
©National Trust Images/Simon Fraser ©NTPL/Simon Fraser
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An owl in Great Wood, Keswick, Derwentwater, Cumbria.
Today, of course, a new set of threats has emerged, namely climate crisis and the catastrophic decline in the natural environment. These two realities will shape the charity’s next chapter.
To mark this year’s milestone birthday, the Trust has committed to becoming carbon net-zero (carbon-neutral, or having a net-zero carbon footprint) by 2030, planting and establishing 20 million trees to help tackle climate change, creating green corridors for people and nature near towns and cities, and continuing its investment in arts and heritage.
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CANON HARDWICKE RAWNSLEY, 1915, pastel portrait by Frederick Yates (1854-1919). Canon Rawnsley was a co-founder of The National Trust. NT Inventory number: 419312. Pastel exhibited Abbott Hall Art Gallery, Kendal 1968 in "Cumbrian Characters", also at Tate Gallery 1986/7 in Beatrix Potter exhibition.
A celebratory anniversary garden party at Buckingham Palace was planned for May, due to be hosted by the National Trust’s President, The Prince of Wales, but as with so many recent events, the pandemic sadly put a stop to such fun. Instead, the Trust created a ‘virtual tea party’, featuring a message of thanks from the Prince:
“As I think that the prevailing health emergency has shown us, the solace and inspiration of nature is utterly vital to our collective wellbeing. Watching the blossom unfurl from our window or listening to the magic of the rising dawn chorus reminds us that the natural world will still be there to welcome us all when this pandemic is over.”
Slowly but surely, the Trust has begun to reopen its doors for all to enjoy once more. Despite the trauma and challenges of the year so far, it seems that there is still reason to celebrate both 125 years of this vital charity and the endurance and wonder of Mother Nature.
