The National Trust has been caring for places across the UK for more than 125 years, preserving the nation's heritage through a wide range of projects, initiatives and programmes. Learn about the important milestones in our history, from our foundation, through wartime and epidemics, to the present day.
About the National Trust
Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. Together, they set up the National Trust to look after the UK's coastline, historic sites and green spaces.
With over 5.38 million members, 9,500 staff and thousands of volunteers, the National Trust is now the biggest conservation charity in Europe, caring for more than 250,000 hectares of farmland, 890 miles of coastline and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves, for everyone, for ever.
Use the timeline below to discover more about the key moments in our history.
The history of the National Trust: A timeline
1800s
Foundation and firsts
1884
The idea of the National Trust is born
Octavia Hill, one of our founders, forms the idea for our creation when she's asked to help preserve Sayes Court garden in South East London.
1895
The charity is founded
We're registered under the Companies Act and are given our first place to care for a few weeks later: five acres of clifftop at Dinas Oleu in Wales.
1896
Our first building
We purchase Alfriston Clergy House in East Sussex for £10.
1899
Our first nature reserve
We acquire our first nature reserve with the purchase of two acres of Wicken Fen, near Cambridge.
We're gifted Kanturk Castle in County Cork, confirming our commitment to caring for great buildings. Kanturk now belongs to An Taisce: The National Trust for Ireland.
1902
Appeal to buy Brandelhow
We launch a nationwide campaign to raise funds for the purchase of Brandelhow on Derwentwater, in the Lake District. Many contribute to the appeal, including the daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise, and factory workers in the Midlands.
1907
The National Trust Act of 1907
The National Trust Act of 1907 is drafted by Sir Robert Hunter, one of our co-founders, to give us the status of a statutory corporation (a body formed by the government to provide a public service). In the same year, we acquire Barrington Court, a 16th-century country house in Somerset.
1912
Blakeney Point
We acquire Blakeney Point in Norfolk for its value as a coastal nature reserve.
1923
Great Gable
Great Gable, a peak in the Lake District, is presented to us by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club as a memorial to members who were killed in the First World War (1914–1918).
In the same year, historian GM Trevelyan uses his friendship with the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and the author John Buchan, to help boost falling membership numbers.
Under the chairmanship of critic and journalist John Bailey, we receive more sympathetic coverage from the press than at any other time in our history. On 25 October, a letter in The Times, appealing for funds for Ashridge in Hertfordshire, is signed by current and former Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald and Herbert Asquith.
1927
We buy farmland around Stonehenge
We purchase more than 1,400 acres of farmland around Stonehenge following a national appeal.
1929
Beatrix Potter lends her support
Beatrix Potter uses the income from her children's books to support our work in the Lake District. As a result, we're able to acquire Monk Coniston Estate, near Coniston Water.
1931
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland is established. It has similar statutory powers to us, but with an entirely independent constitution. It looks after historic and green spaces in Scotland.
1934
Our first village
West Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, becomes the first village to come under our protection.
1937
The National Trust Act of 1937
The 11th Marquess of Lothian, Philip Kerr, proposes that we should be able to accept the gift of country houses with endowments in land or capital that are free of tax. These new powers are outlined in the National Trust Act of 1937.
1939
Quarry Bank Mill
We’re gifted Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate in Cheshire, beginning our involvement with sites that are important for their industrial archaeology.
In the same year, our supporter Lord Lothian bequeaths us his Jacobean house, Blickling in Norfolk.
1945
Our 50th birthday
1945 marks our 50th anniversary, as well as the end of the Second World War. At this point, we manage 112,000 acres of land and 93 historic buildings. We also have 7,850 members.
1946
The National Land Fund
The National Land Fund is established by Dr Hugh Dalton, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Its purpose is to secure culturally significant places for the nation as a memorial to those killed in the Second World War. Many great country houses are subsequently transferred to us with assistance from this fund, beginning with Cotehele in Cornwall.
1948
Post-war collaboration
We launch the Gardens Scheme in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society, which is designed to encourage and fund the acquisition of outstanding gardens.
In the same year, Hidcote in Gloucestershire is gifted to us by Major Lawrence Johnston, a garden designer.
We launch the Neptune Campaign, which aims to acquire and protect sections of coastline that could be at risk. By 2025, we care for more than 890 miles of coast all around the UK.
1968
The Benson Report
The Benson Report recommends that much of our administration should be devolved to regions. Following this and other recommendations, we experience a decade of unprecedented growth.
1970
Our 75th anniversary
As we celebrate our 75th birthday, we have more than 226,000 members. We begin to sell various items like tea towels, leading to the formation of National Trust Enterprises.
1975
A membership milestone
We reach 500,000 members.
1981
The big one million
We celebrate another huge milestone as we reach one million members.
1986
Sutton House is more than a home
We reverse a decision to turn Sutton House, which we’d owned since 1936, into flats and devote it to cultural and educational uses for the benefit of the community in Hackney.
1990
Two million members
We hit the two million members mark; that's more than the combined membership of all the political parties at the time.
Meanwhile, the Snowdonia Appeal is launched by Sir Anthony Hopkins. The Lake District Appeal, which began three years earlier, reaches its target of £2 million.
1994
Moving with the times
We acquire 2 Willow Road in Hampstead, an innovative, Modernist house designed by Erno Goldfinger in 1938.
1995
Centenary celebrations
A service in St Paul's Cathedral is held to celebrate our 100th anniversary. In our first 100 years, we became the guardian of 580,000 acres of countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; 545 miles of coastline; 230 historic houses and 130 important gardens.
We embark on a major structural review, with the aim of working more effectively with other conservation bodies and improving internal processes.
2001
Farming Forward
The Farming Forward initiative is launched, at the time of the foot-and-mouth crisis. It shows we can support the farming industry while also helping preserve the natural beauty of rural areas.
2002
Money well spent
The Victorian country house Tyntesfield, near Bristol, is put up for sale. Within 100 days, we raise £3 million from more than 50,000 individual donors and secure a grant of £17.5 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund to purchase it.
2003
Arts and Crafts
We purchase Red House in Bexleyheath, London. The house was once owned by the Arts and Crafts designer William Morris, who was a friend and supporter of Octavia Hill.
2005
A new home
We move to a new central office in Swindon, called Heelis, which brings staff from four central offices under one roof for the first time. A small office in London remains.
2007
Membership keeps on growing
Membership figures hit the 3.5 million mark.
2008
Volunteering milestone
The total number of volunteers working for us, donating what Octavia Hill called gifts of time, exceeds 50,000.
2009
Seaton Delaval saved for the nation
Following a massive appeal that raises more than £3 million from thousands of people, charitable trusts and companies across the country, Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland comes under our care.
We take over the care of Tredegar House, the 17th-century ancestral home of the Morgan family, and embark on a series of extensive projects to conserve the building.
2015
A devastating fire
On 29 April, a fire caused by an electrical fault rips through Clandon Park in Surrey. We manage to save over 400 items from the collection and, following a 14-month salvage operation, are working on a new vision for the house and estate.
10-year strategy launched
We launch a 10-year strategy, ‘Playing our Part’, to meet the needs of the 21st century. It includes a pledge to reduce energy use by 15% and source 50% of energy from renewables by 2020/21.
2017
White Cliffs saved
Thanks to generous donations, £1 million is raised that allows us to secure 700,000 square metres of land just behind the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent, to protect their future.
A gigantic leap
We reach another milestone with membership jumping from four million to five million in just six years.
2018
A new Director General
Hilary McGrady takes over from Dame Helen Ghosh as our Director-General.
We plan to celebrate our 125th anniversary with a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and events across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But the Covid-19 pandemic arrives and instead, for the first time in our history, we are forced to close.
We're forced to respond to fast-changing local conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic, in what was a challenging time for us and our visitors. But once fully reopened, membership levels grow quickly.
Castlefield Viaduct opens as an urban park in Manchester, initially on a temporary basis. We turn a formerly disused, 330m-long steel viaduct into an aerial garden, bringing nature into the city while making the garden free to access. This attracts huge public interest, which leads to the gardens being extended.
2023
People stand up for nature
The British public demands change to address a decline in nature. The People's Plan for Nature, a report drawn up by a citizens' assembly, calls for action from every part of society. We respond by calling for robust environmental governance across the UK, nature-friendly food production and more space for nature alongside people.
2023
Home of Gertrude Jekyll saved
We acquire Munstead Wood in Surrey. It was here that Jekyll wrote, established a nursery, bred plants and designed more than 400 gardens around the world. Work to allow future generations to visit the house and garden begins but fundraising is vital to support the property long term.
2023
Tree at Sycamore Gap felled
People are shocked when the much-loved tree at Sycamore Gap is illegally cut down. Yet, from this act grows the idea to gift 49 of the tree's saplings to good causes. We receive nearly 500 applications for a 'tree of hope'. The saplings are planted in public spaces, continuing the legacy of the Sycamore Gap tree and connecting people with nature.
To mark our 130th birthday, we launch our new strategy, with three ambitious goals for 2050. These are: to restore nature – not just on National Trust land, but everywhere; to end unequal access to nature, beauty and history; and to inspire millions more people to care and take action.
Read about our three founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – who set up the National Trust in 1895 to protect natural and historic places.
As Europe’s biggest conservation charity, we look after nature, beauty and history for everyone to enjoy. Discover more about our legacy, people and values.
Climate change is the single biggest threat to the places we care for. Take a look at our environmental pledges as we adapt, reduce carbon emissions and address the damage already done.
