Guardians history
IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to pick out the most stunning treasures cared for by the National Trust. Perhaps you might go for the Edwardian perfection of Polesden Lacey in Surrey, with Persian carpets and palazzo gold-carved panelling – so peaceful that the future King George VI and his Queen Elizabeth chose to honeymoon there. Or the delicate Chinese silk wallpaper in the Georgian manor of Saltram, Devon, its willowy figures almost as vivid 300 years after being handpainted onto mulberry paper. Then there are riches by association, such as Shaw’s Corner, Hertfordshire, home to George Bernard Shaw for 44 years. Built in 1902, it exemplifies Arts and Crafts style; but the attraction lies also in the glamorous personalities who passed through the plain front door: Edward Elgar, Vivien Leigh and TE Lawrence among them.
What is indisputable is that they all owe their survival to a determined trio: social reformer Octavia Hill, solicitor Robert Hunter, and
