Great Chalfield Manor, Wiltshire, was given to the National Trust in 1943 by Robert and Mabel Fuller. Their grandson and his wife, Robert and Patsy Floyd, manage this beautiful 15th-century manor house, its garden, and its home farm The vast majority of visitors who come to Great Chalfield love the fact that they’re coming to a home and not only a museum. We really enjoy welcoming visitors here, as well as the excitements of filming—The Other Boleyn Girl and Poldark were shot here. The garden is a particular care of Patsy and large numbers of visitors come simply to see its development and changing face season by season. We have established a local Friends Association, too, which supports the Arts-and-Crafts gardens with events such as a Plant Fair in May and Bath Opera’s annual travelling show in the Great Hall.
As an organisation, the Trust forms the mainstay of what we do: it takes responsibility for the repair of the fabric—a huge concern for many privately owned houses— not to mention such practicalities as public relations. Its work of advertising the property, for example, brings a steady, growing stream of interested visitors. In 2019, we welcomed 21,611 visitors, of whom 7,782 came to enjoy the gardens.
Our role in the life of the property is one of encouragement and oversight. We actively facilitate the study and enjoyment of Great Chalfield: if someone is interested, we try to give constructive encouragement to that interest, whatever it is. It helps people feel involved and it produces remarkable returns in the form of volunteering and publications on everything from the history of the house to the surrounding flora and fauna.
Denne historien er fra January 01, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra January 01, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds