There’s far too much to see in our stately homes, says National Trust

THEY are extraordinary treasure troves, stuffed full of some of the greatest works of art that Britain has ever produced.

But the National Trust want its stately homes to have fewer exhibits – because they are too demanding on visitors.

The charity, which owns 500 historic homes and gardens, is worried that rooms often have ‘so much stuff’ it puts off all but the middle classes.

In an attempt to try to broaden the appeal of Britain’s grand properties, bosses yesterday launched a ten-year strategy that includes plans to ‘simplify’ some exhibits.

In some cases a room would have just a single artwork as its focal point, although the Trust denied it is ‘dumbing down’. Director-general Dame Helen Ghosh said: ‘One of the things we have to look at is the sheer number of exhibits. There is so much stuff in there.

‘Let’s not expect our visitors to look at every single picture in a room – let’s pick one lovely thing, put it in the middle of the room and light it really well. We make people work fantastically hard – we could make them work much less hard.’

Dame Helen pointed to properties like the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge in Northern Ireland where visitors are ‘from every socioeconomic background, wearing shorts, flip flops, all of that’. But many large stately homes where the ‘middle classes feel more comfortable’ have a far narrower appeal.

‘Our analysis is that it isn’t the entrance fee that is putting people off, it is that they think this isn’t “the place for them”,’ she said. But she denied that the Trust is ‘dumbing down’ its approach.

‘In many ways it is more intellectually rewarding,’ Dame Helen insisted. ‘People will learn much more by looking at one object in a lot of detail than they ever would going round a room getting a vague impression.’

Tim Parker, chairman of the Trust, said every museum and gallery has ‘the middle class problem’. ‘We have serious aspirations to broaden our appeal – but the worst thing we can possibly do is to semi-condescend a group of people in order to make a property seem more attractive,’ he warned.