Our cookie policy
We use cookies to make your experience of our website as good as possible.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small, often encrypted, text files, which are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. They are used to remember useful information which allows certain functionality within the website to work, for example remembering where you have reached within an order process, or if you've logged in to a site. Cookies can't harm your computer.
For more information about cookies, please see the websites listed in the related links.
How long do cookies last?
Cookies last for different lengths of time depending on what they are used for.
- Session cookies are temporary cookies and are only stored until you leave the website or when you close your web browser.
- Persistent cookies last for a fixed period of time, defined within the cookie, and allow the website to recognise the device again when the user returns to that website on that device.
Information about the duration of cookies used on www.nationaltrust.org.uk will be published in the near future.
Who sets the cookie?
- First party cookies – these are set by the website that you are visiting and can only be read by that website.
- Third party cookies – these are set by an organisation other than owner of the website. This might be for the purposes of website measurement, being able to watch a video on the site or for the purposes of advertising.
Both first and third-party cookies are set on www.nationaltrust.org.uk. We will be publishing a list of these in the near future.
How cookies are used
On www.nationaltrust.org.uk we use cookies that perform a different variety of functions. The categorisation and definitions are based on the guide published by the International Chamber of Commerce:
Strictly necessary cookies
These types of cookies are used to make sure parts of a website work and that you can use the site effectively, such as remembering certain information on a form when you go to another page before the form has been completed.
On www.nationaltrust.org.uk we use 'Strictly Necessary' cookies to:
1) Remember information you've entered on our join and donate forms when you navigate to different pages in a single web browser session
2) Remember correct membership or donation values when you have made a payment to us.
The cookies that we have defined as 'Strictly Necessary' cookies will NOT be used to:
1) Gather information that could be used to advertise products or services to you
2) Remember any preferences you have set beyond the current visit
If you prevent these cookies you may not be able to use certain features on www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Performance cookies
These cookies are used to measure the performance of websites and see how websites are used. We use 'Performance' cookies to improve how the website works and measure our marketing activity. Information that is collected using these cookies are aggregated and anonymous and we are not able to identify individual users with these cookies.
On www.nationaltrust.org.uk we may use 'Performance' cookies to:
1) Provide aggregated statistics on how our website is used.
2) See how effective our marketing activity is (we don't use this information to target adverts to you when you visit other websites).
3) Provide feedback to partners that one of our visitors also visited their website. This lets our partners improve their website. We don't allow our partners to reuse this information for further advertising.
4) Help us improve the website by measuring any errors that occur and also to improve the performance of the site.
5) Test different designs of page on our website.
Cookies we have defined as 'Performance' cookies will NOT be used to:
1) Gather information that could be used to target you with advertising on other websites.
2) Remember any preferences you have set beyond the current visit.
Functionality cookies
These types of cookie allow websites to remember choices you make (for example, your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services on the site such as watching a video. These cookies do not track your browsing activity on other websites.
We use 'Functionality' cookies on www.nationaltrust.org.uk to:
1) Remember settings you've applied such as layout and text size.
2) Remember if you have already completed our online survey.
Cookies defined as 'Functionality' will NOT be used to
1) Gather information that could be used to target you with advertising on other websites.
Advertising or Targeting cookies
These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisation.
We use 'Advertising' cookies on www.nationaltrust.org.uk to:
1) Link to social networks like Facebook, who may subsequently use information about your visit to target advertising to you on other websites.
2) Used to identify that you have visited the National Trust website, so that we can show you relevant adverts from the National Trust.
3) Provide advertising networks with information on your visit so that they can present you with adverts that you may be interested in.
Cookies used on www.nationaltrust.org.uk
On www.nationaltrust.org.uk we use both first and third party cookies. We are currently undertaking an audit of these cookies and details of all the different cookies that we use on www.nationaltrust.org.uk will be published on this page shortly.
How to manage cookies
You can manage how you use cookies using the settings in your web browser. Below is a list of common browsers and links through to help managing your cookie settings for them.
Information on how to manage cookies can also be found using settings within other browsers, or for more cookie information see the links below.
Note that these links will take you to other sites. The National Trust is not responsible for the information and also the setting of cookies on these other sites.
