Although encyclopedic, this book is not exhaustive. It has not been possible to cover every minor holding: some are only the size of a field or a copse. Buildings not open to the public, open for only a few days a year, or visible only by appointment have also been excluded. The maps on pages 442-45 showthe locations of all properties mentioned in the text and map references are included for each property.Opening times and other practical information - such as admission fees and the availability of tea-rooms and facilities for the disabled - are in the National Trust Handbook, published every year and given free to Trust members. Information about the countryside in the Trust's care can be found in the introductory sections to each region in the Handbook, and in the Coast and Countryside Handbook (obtainable from the Membership Department or via the website - see jacket flap for contact details).

...

This book has been described as the National Trust's bible - and indeed it is. The first edition (as The National Trust Guide) was published in 1973, and there have been five subsequent revised editions, each fatter than the previous one, as the number and variety of the Trust's properties have grown.

The definitive illustrated guide to our heritage, History and Landscape celebrates the best of our historic houses, great gardens and stunning landscapes, through the Trust's unrivalled photographic collection and Lydia Greeves's imaginative and erudite text. This beautiful book showcases recent National Trust acquisitions such as the Gothic wonder of Tyntesfield in Somerset, John Lennon's childhood home Mendips, and William Morris's Arts & Crafts Red House in Kent. Magnificent countryside, including the breathtaking coast of Cornwall,Snowdonia, the Peak District, and the lunar scenery of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, is set beside the Trust's much-loved gardens such as Sissinghurst Castle in Kent and Stourhead Landscape Garden in Wiltshire.The Trust's great 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, however; alongside stately buildings are 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.

A series of fourteen 'pictorial essays' is interwoven into the book. With subjects such as Dutch art, water in gardens, craftsmanship, early landscapes, or the work of Robert Adam, these link properties with common features, so enabling readers with a particular interest to organise their visits around these themes.

Foreword

Introduction

HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE

Diverse Landscapes

The First Builders and Shapers

Man the Landscape Maker

The Portrait Phenomenon

Dutch Art

Financing the House

Using Local Materials

Adventuring

Trials of War

Craftsmanship

Water as Ornament

Visionaries and Eccentrics

Romantic Recreations

The Adam Touch

Maps

Photographic credits

Useful Addresses

Index