Blog 74

Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire (1660-80) is not one of Britain’s greatest country houses such as Blenheim or Chatsworth, but it is representative of the vast number of outstanding ‘second-division’ country houses with which this country is almost uniquely blessed. Nevertheless, it is an important house both architecturally and historically as it represents one of our finest Restoration mansions. Its interiors in particular are outstanding (having been used for the internal Pemberley scenes in the BBC’s classic dramatisation (1995) of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice). It was gifted to the National Trust by the Vernon family in 1967 in whose safe-keeping they placed it. Sadly, as is happening more and more around their national estate, the National Trust (despite their title), have betrayed the family’s trust and now turned the house into a theme park. It is apparently no longer ‘Sudbury Hall’ but the ‘Children’s Country House at Sudbury.’

The house has been stripped of much of its historic furniture ‘to make way for children’s activities’ with books and other historic memorabilia, which are a key element of the Sudbury collection, placed in storage. Its famous Long Gallery is now little more than a playground while its magnificent Saloon has been turned into a disco room, with a neon slogan reading “Dance like it’s 1699”. The daughter of the 10^th Lord Vernon who gifted the house described the Trust’s treatment of it as a ‘major exercise of dumbing down’ and confirmed that ‘the changes at Sudbury Hall have taken place without consultation in the locality or with the donor family. The donor, my father, understood the house would be cared for as a historic property, and it deserves to be, given the extraordinary quality of its interiors, but it has now been turned into a child-centred theme park. This is inappropriate and sad.’ The National Trust now describe historic Sudbury Hall as ‘a fun educational experience’ for children.

Sadly, Sudbury Hall is not alone, as property after property within the National Trust’s estate are undergoing similar exercises in ‘popularisation’ in a desperate attempt to ‘attract young people.’ The National Trust used to have landscape and building conservation at its very heart, its often-painstaking restorations set an international standard and many of their curators (a considerable number of whom have now left, voluntarily or otherwise) were similarly well regarded. Their extraordinary achievements over more than a hundred years in saving numerous historically and architecturally important buildings are now being completely undermined with the diversity and average age of their visitors now their key performance indicators rather than the quality of the care of the properties which were left in their trust.

I have nothing against theme parks (I loved Disneyland) nor play facilities for children and I can equally see why visiting a historic building may be boring for many people, but its not compulsory and there are plenty of other attractions available throughout the country for families with young children who want a day out. All is not lost however and a new group ‘Restore Trust’ has been formed with the aim of returning the Trust to its original principles and protecting its properties from further vandalism. You can find out more about them on their website www.restoretrust.org.uk and if you are a National Trust member, please stay and join the fight to save our national heritage rather than resigning in disgust, as so many have already done.

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