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Formerly known as the Historic Houses Association (HHA), Historic Houses has just marked its 50th anniversary, having been formed in 1973. A year after its foundation, a campaigning exhibition at the V&A drew attention to the loss of some 2,000 country houses over the previous century, mainly as a result of punitive death duties and the cost of repairs following the depredations of wartime use.
When Labour came to power in October 1974, the HHA and others mounted a successful campaign to persuade the Chancellor Denis Healey to replace estate duties with capital transfer tax (CTT). Thus began a change in the fortunes of historic houses, since many of them had remained in the same family’s ownership for centuries and were, therefore, not liable for CCT (inheritance tax came later, with exemptions for trusts, businesses, and agricultural land).
As a result, far fewer properties needed to be rescued by the National Trust, and many more remained independently owned, thus fulfilling the vision of Sir Ernest Gowers, whose 1950 report on ‘Houses of Outstanding Historic and Architectural Interest’ said that the best way to preserve the UK’s country house heritage was for them to continue as private residences, occupied by the families connected with them.
Today, Historic Houses has 1,450 ‘house members’, being the owners and trustees of some of the finest Grade I- and Grade II*-listed houses, castles, gardens, and parks in the UK – seven times more than are in the care of the National Trust. In addition, some 73,000 other members gain access to the houses free of charge or benefit from private tours.
These properties contribute to the UK economy through tourism (hosting 22 million visitors annually) and as the venues for some 26,000 festivals and events a year. A third of members’ houses have been used as film locations, and many now have wedding licences. Together, they support 32,000 jobs. Some are exemplars of landscape-scale restoration and nature-recovery projects, as well as building restoration and collections management.
Sir Ernest Gowers believed that the country house ‘combination of beauty, art, and nature achieved through centuries of effort… has seldom, if ever, been equalled in the history of civilisation’. He would be pleased with what Historic Houses members have achieved.
Further information: www.historichouses.org
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