To celebrate the theme of ‘Ideas and Innovation’ for Museums and Galleries Month in May, we are inviting visitors to discover the stories of inventive genius associated with our properties.
From notable thinkers and ground-breaking advances, to bizarre contraptions and eccentric ideas, many of our properties and inhabitants were well ahead of their time.
Watch the films:
The National Trust is home to many beautiful objects, but when you scratch below the polished veneer, you discover that we look after a whole range of oddities, from the curious to the downright ridiculous! Here are five short videos of things you would never expect to see on a day out with the Trust:
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Here’s a selection of what else to see in May:
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Cragside, Northumberland
The revolutionary home of Victorian inventor and landscape genius, Lord Armstrong, was called ‘the wonder of its age’. |
The first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity, it is crammed with gadgets and fascinating objects, from electric gongs to a primitive dishwasher.
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Standen, East Sussex
See how the Victorians tried to take the back-break out of life with an exhibition of wacky inventions. |
Marvel at self-pouring teapots, ‘mouse-proof’ organ pedals and the extraordinary ‘Wristlet Route Indicator’ - an early 20th century forerunner of satellite navigation. From the collection of modern-day private collector, Maurice Collins.
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Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
The former home of the pioneer of photography, the museum offers an intriguing insight into the development of early photography. |
Visit the exhibition gallery and see ‘Idylls of the King’, a series of striking images by the ‘queen’ of early photography, Julia Margaret Cameron.
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Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire
Birthplace and family home of scientist Sir Isaac Newton, it was here that he developed his remarkable work on light and gravity. |
Visit the famous apple tree, hear talks about Newton’s life and learn about his ideas in the hands-on Science Discovery Centre.
With its use of traditional and 21st-century technologies to light, heat and power the mill, and a visitor centre with interactive displays, this is the place to be inspired by green living at its best.
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2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London
This extraordinary house was designed and built in the 1930s by one of the leading architects of Modernism, Ernö Goldfinger. |
See iconic examples of his Modernist furniture and accessories, plus artworks by his contemporaries such as Henry Moore and Max Ernst.
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