Review by Susan Parham, Chair, Council for European Urbanism
The Landmark Trust is a building preservation charity that rescues and restores architecturally interesting and historic buildings at risk. The 20th edition of the Landmark Trust Handbook has just been released; containing fascinating details of historic places to stay across Britain, all saved from oblivion by the Trust. There are details of nine new buildings and a further nine for which appeals for restoration funds are included.
Among the 178 historic buildings restored by Landmark there is an enormous diversity in type and location: martello towers, forts (Bath Tower, below), lodges and gatehouses, whole castles and the banqueting rooms of grand houses; tiny lock cottages, early industrial row dwellings and mine buildings; parsonages and vicarages; chapels and priory hospitals (Beamsley), ancient farms, late medieval hall houses, inns, and longhouses, Georgian town houses, 18th century villas and baronial mansions. And of course a pineapple (the extraordinary two storey summer house built for the 4th Earl of Dunmore in Central Scotland, from 1761).
Among other eccentric summerhouses ( The Chateau) and pavilions are a tiny folly in Lincolnshire described as "an ornament in the landscape", a newly restored Georgian designed "Ruin" in Yorkshire, a Gothic temple at Stowe for four and a very grand hut in Somerset for two. Coop House on the river Esk appeals as does a Duke's "Swiss cottage", previously used for picnics and shooting parties, and boasting exquisite views. Beckford's Tower near Bath ("Greek revival with a hint of Tuscany") was the plaything of William Beckford "who each morning, accompanied by his dwarf and his spaniels, ...would ride up to his tower to play with his treasures in its opulent rooms" and "enjoy the finest prospect in England".
A most romantic category of buildings is a selection of castles, some quite diminutive, and often spectacularly sited. These include the Castle of Park for up to seven people in Dumfries and Galloway, the coastal Kingswear Castle near Dartmouth, Devon for 6 people, and Rosslyn Castle, mostly built around 1450 by William, Prince of Orkney. Those who like the thought of the Landmark buildings' sometimes grand connections will be pleased to know that the habitable rooms have been restored and furnished by the present Earl of Rosslyn.
(Right, The Chateau)
Another intriguing grouping are the houses designed by architects of the early modern period. The Trust lets out both Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House near Glasgow for 6 people and his Mackintosh building in Comrie, Perthshire for four. Up to twelve people can stay at Lutyen's Arts and Crafts Goddards (circa 1898-1900) and enjoy the indoor skittle alley and the Gertrude Jekyll garden now under restoration.
The Trust has made a number of forays offshore, letting properties in the USA (Kipling's house in Vermont among them) and Italy. These latter include a Palladian villa in Vicenza, an old monastery in Tivoli and rooms in Keats's House in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. Nearer the mainland are the islands with which the Trust has developed a long-term restoration relationship. Reading about and looking at the pictures of wild Lundy, off the north Devon coast (and reachable only by helicopter in winter) one is struck by the holistic nature of the Trust's activities and the guiding principles that underpin their work. The Trust undertook the task of restoring the whole island when it was taken on by the National Trust in 1969, and has been actively involved ever since. It says that "Much of this work remains invisible, but without it, ordinary people would soon have been unable to live on, or visit the island... Lundy offers the public a very rare experience. It is large enough to have a genuine life of its own, which visitors can share and enjoy, but small and far enough away to be a world apart and undefaced".
In other cases the Trust has brought back to life places that had withered away. The hamlet of Coombe and the township of Lower Porthmeor, both in Cornwall, and the buildings left over from the slate quarry community in Rhiwddolion, North Wales, seem to fit nicely into this category. Comments from visitors suggest that most who come to stay really try to make connections in sustainable ways. A recurrent theme is interest in place, the individuals and histories that inform the building, as well as to explore their setting on foot. "We came to Ty Capel with the idea of using it as a base to explore North Wales. It exercised its magic on us too, and North Wales went unexplored".
(Right, Beamsley)
While many of the buildings are found in (sometimes deep) rural settings, a high degree of accessibility (by train rather than car) is especially true of the rich selection of buildings also available in various market towns and in London, including flats within Hampton Court Palace and Cloth Fair in Smithfield. Here is found the only remaining house in the City built before the Great Fire. As the Trust says of this area "There is here a lingering feel of how alive the whole City of London once was before it was destroyed by money, fire, and war - a place where long established institutions, trades, houses, markets and people of all kinds mingled together".
Landmark properties look rich but they are not necessarily expensive. Of course if you and 16 friends want to stay in the Villa Saraceno (right) in high season this pleasure comes at a price although my calculation based on the 2003 price list suggests it is only £52.90 per person per night for a seven night stay - and that's absolutely top of the range. Many properties are available for very much less especially in low and transitional seasons. For example, five people could stay at The College in Cornwall for four nights in winter for £164 (or £8.20 per night per person).
The Trust's strong aesthetic is evident throughout the Handbook. Simply furnished and heated by open fires and wood stoves, the buildings do not (blessedly) have telephones, microwaves or televisions. At the same time there is thread of grandeur in the careful, understated restorations that "make each Landmark practical and comfortable without damaging its character". Plans for each self-catering building are included so that fascinating details of often singular buildings can be pored over.
(Above and right: Park Hall, Scotland)
Behind these pleasures is a serious purpose. The Trust has retrieved many intriguing buildings from oblivion and found a self sustaining use for them. The Trust "aims to promote enjoyment of unusual historic buildings by enabling as many people as possible to experience living in them". Letting out pays for upkeep. But many more buildings and places that are "remarkable in some way for their architecture, history or setting" need help and a £10 million appeal has been launched by Landmark to raise funds for buildings at risk.
Even if you do no more than dream about visiting your favourite landmark, the text, photographs, building plans, maps and drawings of the 2004 Handbook give a great deal of enjoyment. The Handbook provides an extremely palatable way to get to know a little more about places that have been revived by passion, care and sensitivity to place.
Further information
Full details of all 178 Landmark Trust buildings are available in the 20th edition of the Landmark Trust Handbook, price £9.50 including post and packing. This is refundable against the first booking. The contact details are:
Landmark Trust
Tel +44 1628 825920
Fax 01628 825417
Email: bookings@landmarktrust.co.uk
Web: www.landmarktrust.co.uk
Back to top...
Views expressed on this page are those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by those involved in INTBAU.
We welcome suggestions for inclusion in these pages, but we do not list books unseen. If you would like to have your book on traditional buildings or places reviewed on these pages, please contact INTBAU.
All rights reserved
INTBAU UK Ltd a registered charity no 1132362
© INTBAU 2001-10
A company limited by guarantee no 6861677 and registered in England and Wales
Registered office 19-22 Charlotte Road London EC2A 3SG
