Something old, something new
With grand, ornate and quirky places across the South West the National Trust has something new to discover. It’s a great time to discover or rediscover your favourite National Trust place with many new and surprising treats in store.
BATH ASSEMBLY ROOMS
After taking back management of Bath Assembly Rooms in 2023, the National Trust is embarking on a programme of events, festivals and tours. Guided tours give visitors a chance to see the splendour of the ground floor rooms, hearing about the history of the building and how the likes of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens have described events of the time in their novels. This year there will be a series of specialist event tours to book, from hard hat tours in the recently excavated vaults on the lower ground floor, to literary tours and fashion tours that go into detail about writers and dress from the Georgian era.
STOURHEAD
This year Stourhead celebrates 300 years as a home and a new exhibition in the house focuses on the lives of the women who lived there and the female makers and creators who helped turn this grand Country House into a home. As a part of this exhibition four beautifully crafted replica dresses are on display to represent these women and show the impact that they had.
The women include Jane Benson, Lady Augusta and Alda, Lady Hoare, and share how they, and other female artists and creatives, influenced the house and collection as we know it today.
HIDCOTE
The exhibition hall at Hidcote, in Gloucestershire, will be brimming with blooms this spring as it hosts botanical and embroidery artist Olga Prinku. Olga has been visiting Hidcote through the seasons to collect materials that she will use to create three artworks inspired by the garden. These will be displayed alongside her wider body of work, which combines dried and preserved flowers and other natural materials with tulle fabric to create motifs inspired by nature.
HARDY MONUMENT
Follow in the footsteps of a young Vice Admiral Thomas Hardy on the new Mini Explorer Trail at Hardy’s Monument in Dorset. With brass rubbings to collect and challenges to try, it’s a great way to get little ones out into nature.
With visits recommended between April and October, visitors can grab a trail sheet and get exploring on this circular route through the undulating Dorset landscape with magnificent views out to sea, as well as climb all 120 steps to the top of the Monument.
SALTRAM
One of Reynolds’ great works, the portrait of The Hon.Theresa Robinson, Mrs John Parker, is undergoing cleaning and conservation at the Trust’s Conservation Studio at Knole. The Parker family at Saltram, close to Plympton where Joshua Reynolds was born, had a lifelong friendship with him. The painting once restored will go on display at the Reframing Reynolds exhibition at The Box in Plymouth from June, before returning to Saltram in October.
SNOWSHILL
To celebrate the 2024 Olympics, Snowshill Manor and Garden will be putting on a year of events themed around different countries, kicking off the season with a brand-new display in the costume room, featuring items from around the world collected by Charles Wade. Visitors will be able to explore Japanese Jinbaori, North African hats, Persian Kaftans and Greek jackets.
■ Please check the National Trust website before visiting for opening times and to find out what to expect from your visit.