First French Landmarksnow open

Landmark News

The site at Le Moulin de la Tuilerie (top), Le Moulin's sitting room (left) and kitchen (right).

The Landmark Trust newsletter Issued twice yearly Autumn 2010

The Landmark Trust is a building preservationcharity that rescues historicbuildings at risk foreveryone to enjoy, givingthem a new life by lettingthem for inspiring holidays.

Inside

Pick an apple at a Landmark

Wind dial at Fox Hall restored

Work progresseswell at Cowside

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Our first Landmarks in France are now open for holidays. These three buildings comprise Le Moulin for 12, La Maison des Amis for 4 and La Cèlibataire for 2 and wereformerly the country residence of Edward, Duke of Windsor and his wife WallisSimpson. We were honoured to welcome Sir Peter Westmacott, British Ambassador toFrance, to a well-attended reception at the site in September to launch Landmark inFrance. The buildings’ refurbishment as Landmarks was funded by their philanthropicBritish owner under our guidance, with furniture and fabrics that evoke the Windsors.Easily accessible from Paris, Le Moulin de la Tuilerie is already proving popular, includingas a stopover en route to the rest of France.

Landmark Holidays

Booking Office 01628 825925 Monday to Friday 9am - 6pm and Saturday 10am - 4pm 2

Letter fromthe DirectorNever has it been more true that werely on your support. We are notimmune to the recession any morethan you are; and as an independentcharity receiving no governmentsupport we are entirely reliant onyour goodwill. We are extraordinarilyfortunate that you have continued tosupport us through these difficulttimes by making bookings andcontributing to our appeals. But it is getting tougher.

We made cuts to our budgets in2008 to prepare for the recession,but the pressure remains. Costsinexorably rise, including increasingtaxes which fall on us too despitebeing a charity. We are having towork ever harder, and on straitenedmeans, to care for these preciousand often difficult buildings.

Landmarks depend on you for theircontinuing place in the historic fabricof Britain. We are determined thatthe recession will not deflect us fromrescuing and caring for them. Everytime you book a holiday in one yousupport it, and this charity, in thattask. Thank you for doing so; everysingle booking, and every singledonation, matter - more than ever.

Peter Pearce at Cavendish Hall withLandmark's Katie Arber and Ian McCulloch of the Pamela Matthews Trust.

Larger Landmarks provide the perfect setting for special celebrations with friends andfamily, whether for Christmas, New Year, a birthday or anniversary, a reunion or just aspectacular dinner party. Many Landmarkers theme their celebration according to thebuilding they choose – Jane Austen for Cavendish Hall (for 12), a medieval banquetin Wortham Manor (for 16), Noel Coward dinner parties at Goddards (for 13) orbagpipes and kilts at Auchinleck House (for 13). Our online search facility makes iteasy to search by size of building.

Landmarks for special occasions

It is always a happy moment to find an entryin a Landmark's Logbook recording that acouple has become engaged or spent theirhoneymoon there. Still more romantic is thefact that many of these lovers return to theLandmark, to celebrate their anniversary oreven to share it with their children.

Of course, some Landmarks have also beenthe scene of famous historical romances andgrands passions.

Following their secret wedding and flight to Italy, Elizabeth and Robert Browningsettled in Casa Guidi. Here they spent most of their marriage, and completed many oftheir best known works.

Clytha Castle was built in a beautifulspot by a grieving widower “with thepurpose of relieving a mind afflicted bythe loss of a most excellent wife” and,in a similar vein, Peters Tower wasbuilt as a memorial to a lost wife. Bothnow have a happier purpose.

Daphne du Maurier spent her weddingnight on a boat in Frenchman’s Creek,not far from our Landmark of the same name, and wrote her best-sellingnovel of the same title.

These, and many other Landmarks, are places of romance - whatever youmay have in mind.

RomanticLandmarks

Clytha Castle, Monmouthshire

Casa Guidi, Florence

Pick an apple at a Landmark

3Check availability and prices, and book online at www.landmarktrust.org.uk Email bookings@landmarktrust.org.uk

New Handbook in productionOnline booking has made booking a stay in a Landmark easier for many but theLandmark Trust Handbook remains an essential aid. We are already working onthe next, 24th, edition due out next Spring 2011. A Handbook supplement is alsoavailable, which details the three new Landmarks at Le Moulin de la Tuilerie aswell as Oxenford Gatehouse and Cavendish Hall.

Five Landmarkswith walks fromthe door

Edale MillClose to the start of the PennineWay and Mam Tor, this is theperfect base for walking the wildPeak District.

Lock CottageFor more sedate walks, the towpathpasses the front door and continuesalong the Worcester &Birmingham Canal and up thelongest flight of locks in Britain.

The RuinThe picturesque and newly restoredHackfall Woods are strewn withGothic follies, waterfalls anddramatic scenery, making it amagical place to discover.

Lower PorthmeorSurrounded by National Trustland, and on the South West Coastpath, there are moors and rockybays to explore.

West BlockhouseThere are plenty of bracing clifftop walks and panoramic viewsfrom the Pembrokeshire CoastPath in either direction.

For many more examples, visitwww.landmarktrust.org.uk.

Orchards complement ourLandmarks well, at oncehistorically suited and easy tomaintain. They also allow us tomake a small contribution to thesurvival of traditional fruitvarieties, so different fromubiquitous supermarket offerings.This year we have planted anumber of orchards with speciallygrafted, evocatively named

varieties bred in the same locality as the Landmark. So, for example, at Obriss Farmyou will find Colonel Vaughan’s dessert apple, first bred in Kent in the late 17thcentury, Ashmead’s Kernel (Gloucestershire, c.1700) at Field House, and ByfleetSeedling, a 1915 Surrey cooking variety, at Goddards. Enjoy them!

Recent improvements

Lower Porthmeor, Cornwall

Apple trees planted at The Grange in 2006

Our programme to freshen and update our buildings as well as maintain them continues.Showers have been newly installed at Crownhill Fort, South Street, GargunnockHouse, Saddell House, Castle of Park, Monkton Old Hall and The Old Parsonage.Ford Cottage at Coombehas been rethatched, andMethwold Old Vicarage,Houghton West Lodgeand New Inn at Peasenhall have beenredecorated usingtraditional limewash. A significant programmehas begun on Goddards,the Lutyens’ house nearGuildford, to repair andlimewash its render.

West Blockhouse, Pembrokeshire

Methwold Old Vicarage, Norfolk

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Work underway on the new2010 has been a year of great activity at Astley Castle andwork has now begun on the creation of a Landmark for the21st century within the ruined shell of this ancient building.

While the project team was refining the scheme in all its aspects and taking it throughthe tender process, Landmark’s Len Hardy steadfastly continued the work of gentlerepointing and consolidation on site. Scheduled Monument Consent was obtained andvarious preparatory works were carried out on the moated site, including clearance ofvegetation by British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV). Thanks to theHeritage Lottery Fund’s support, there has also been our widest range of activities ever,involving Landmark Friends and supporters, local adults and children, and led by ourEducation Officer, Kasia Howard.

Wind dialat Fox HallrestoredThe Duke of Richmond’s weathervane at Fox Hall in Charlton, West Sussex, was connected to adial above the ornate fireplace. It allowed the Duke to assess from his bed whether the winddirection was favourable for a good day’s hunting.

We tried but failed to get thismechanism working when weacquired Fox Hall in 1983 - theoriginal vane had vanished longsince. Now at last this unfinishedbusiness has been resolved, thanksto the skill of Thwaites & Reed, asmall firm of Brighton clockrepairers. A fine new vane of a foxwas designed by artist CarolineHill and the missing needle on the fireplace dial replaced. We hope you will choose to get out of bed at some stage, but at leastnow you will first know which way the wind is blowing.

The schemeAstley Castle was so decayed that any future use required an approach radicallydifferent from our usual restoration schemes. We are working closely withWitherford Watson Mann Architects on their bold and imaginative plan to createexciting, modern accommodation within the ancient shell of the castle, utilisingmany of the original window openings and retaining a sense of the texture andevolution of the castle. You can see the detailed plans on our website.

Fox Hall's fireplace with the dial above

Fox Hall wind dial

Discussing the scheme (left) and the architect's model (right).

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Landmark at Astley Castle

Hear firstTo receive our regular emailsincluding special offers andproject updates, pleaseregister on our website at:www.landmarktrust.org.uk.

Cart shed repairsThe cart sheds underwentmajor repair work. Theywere completely re-roofedand the rear wallspartially rebuilt.

Interior clearanceA vast amount of rubble and debris had to be cleared from theinterior. Previously unknown features have been uncovered and a careful and full examination became possible.

MoatVegetation and self-seededtrees which had choked themoat have been cleared withhelp from BTCV, opening up the views to and from the castle.

Schools’ involvementOver the summer, Higham on the Hill Primary School, Newlands Primary School, Redmoor HighSchool and Westfield Juniors, all worked with local artist Garry Bedford to produce four panelsreflecting the history of Astley Castle fromthe Saxon settlement to 1554. Their work,along with that from the Astley Art Club,was displayed at Hinckley Library.

Besides this, a project involving Milby School began in July and will continueduring the autumn term. The children have visited the site and are helping in the creation of interpretation boards for the circular walks.

LundyupdateThank you to everyonewho contributed to theLundy 40th AnniversaryAppeal, which has nowclosed after raising justover £72,000. Withfunding from the appeal, anew exhibition in the beachbuilding about the island’secology above and belowthe water has opened.

In June, we were alsodelighted to hear that theproject to repair the Lundyroad was named CivilEngineering Project of theYear 2010 in the minorproject category of theInstitution of CivilEngineers South Westregional awards. Thanks toyour support the island'slifeline is safe once again.

Other projects are gettingunderway and need yoursupport. For example, wehope to provideenvironmentally friendlyvolunteer accommodationand an electric quad bike tobe charged by solar panelsin order to support thevolunteers' work.

The FriendsVolunteers from the LandmarkFriends have helped with aprogramme of minor repairworks around the site.

Projects & Restoration

Our appeal to save the Shore Cottages,remnant of the Caithness fishing industry, isnow past the halfway mark. Thanks to thegenerosity of our supporters we have raised£322,000 against our £600,000 target. Thecottages stood on the cusp of total loss andto prevent this, we are using some of thefunds raised so far to carry out major repairsto the roof before another winter sets in.

One question we had was whether the cottages were originally thatched. We knowthat in 1905 the Duke of Portland undertook a programme of re-roofing on theLangwell Estate, mostly to replace thatch with slates. While it is possible our cottageswere originally thatched, we found to our surprise that the roof joists were machinesawn not hewn, suggesting a mid 19th-century construction date when the estate sawmill opened. This makes slates more likely than thatch originally and reinforces ourview that their like-for-like slate replacement is appropriate. We now urgently needyour support to raise the balance required to complete their restoration, before we canproceed with confidence to the next and final phase of work and create two newLandmarks in a stunning coastal setting.

6 To make a donation to support our work and ensure historic buildings have a secure future call 01628 825920

Llwyn Celyn:the next WelshLandmark?

Landmarkers may hear much aboutLlwyn Celyn in the next few years.This late-medieval Grade I timber-framed hall house in the BreconBeacons National Park is of great importance and fragility,miraculously intact after years ofextreme neglect. Intriguingly, thebuilding incorporates two formeropen halls, one a solar (parlour)range adjacent to the main hall.The building is full of rare survivals– a plank and muntin screenpassage, a spere truss, a dias bench,and elaborate carved spandrels inthe door heads. Reflecting thebuilding’s significance, Cadw andthe National Heritage MemorialFund have provided grants for us tobuy the house and facilitate a newhouse for the owners, who havefarmed here for two generations. Ifwe are successful, we will enter aperiod of intense archaeological anddocumentary study to learn moreabout the building and its history.This will be a demanding andlong-running project – but suchchallenges are why Landmark exists.

Re-roofing the ShoreCottages

Our work at Queen Anne’s Summerhouse, the18th-century folly whose restoration we completedlast summer, continues to attract appreciation. The RICS judged it the winner of its East ofEngland Building Conservation Award 2010 and it was Highly Commended in the 2010 Museumand Heritage Awards.

Accolades for QueenAnne’s Summerhouse

Llwyn Celyn, Monmouthshire

The Shore Cottages, Caithness

Our long campaign to rescue Warder’sTower in Staffordshire has hit a snag,possibly a terminal one, and on our lastlap. A large colony of Daubenton's bats,one of our rarest, has taken upresidence in the top floor room andcannot be disturbed. In this tiny towerthere is not room for both Landmarkersand the bats, and it seems thatlegislation gives the bats the strongerhand. We still hope to find a solutionwith the help of Natural England andEnglish Heritage, and will be in touchwith further news as it emerges.

Warder’sTower

Queen Anne’s Summerhouse, Bedfordshire

Llwyn Celyn, Monmouthshire

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7You can make donations online securely and quickly at www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Plans drawn upfor BelmontIntensive work has continued all year to understandthe evolution of Belmont in Lyme Regis, a late 18th-century seaside villa formerly associated with MrsEleanor Coade (renowned manufacturer of artificialstone ornamentation) and most recently the home ofauthor John Fowles. The house had seen manychanges over the years, including considerabledemolition of later additions in the 1960s, which left it a jumbled compromise. Based on archaeological and paint analysis of the building, and after muchconsultation, we have now drawn up our restorationscheme and in September submitted it for ListedBuilding Consent. You can view our plans on ourwebsite, and we welcome your views as part of ourconsultation process.

Work is continuing apace on the restorationof Cowside, a high status 17th-centuryfarmhouse perched on a fellside inLangstrothdale in the Yorkshire DalesNational Park. As an initial phase of work,we renewed the roof re-using many of theoriginal stone slates before the worst of thewinter. Since then we have continuednegotiations with the authorities about accessarrangements in this Area of OutstandingNatural Beauty and aim to provide discretelyhidden parking at the foot of the fell. Theinteriors, windows and doors have beencarefully repaired or, where unavoidable,renewed using traditional materials andtechniques.

The last, most fascinating, piece of the jigsaw will be the revealing of the late 17th-century wall paintings, their survival discovered by tantalisingglimpses through later layers of paint and limewash. This uncovering will be accomplished before our first visitors arrive, but for now weimpatiently await the stabilisation of humidity levels in the building to discover their secrets.

Cowside is exactly the sort of imperilled building Landmark exists to save and its transformation was only possible due to your tremendousresponse to our appeal to save it. Its remote location in one of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes, with walks from the doorstep, will appeal tomany. For five, Cowside will open in 2011. Keep an eye on the website or contact the Booking Office to register your interest and we will letyou know when bookings open.

Work progresses well at Cowside

Cowside, North Yorkshire

Belmont, Dorset

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I would like the Landmark Trust to reclaim the tax on any qualifyingdonations made by me in the previous four years and all donations Imake hereafter as Gift Aid donations until further notice*.

Signature Date

Handbook

The 23rd edition of the Landmark TrustHandbook* features 190 historicbuildings available to stay in – follies,castles, towers, banqueting houses,cottages and other unusual buildings.Through the building entries and acollection of articles, the Handbooktraces our architectural heritage fromthe 12th to the 20th century.

The 232-page Handbook costs just £10 plus postage and packing. TheHandbook cost is refundable againstyour first booking or you may wish touse the refund voucher to make a donation to support Landmark’s work in rescuing historic buildings.

Order your Handbook

• Online at www.landmarktrust.org.uk

• Booking Office on 01628 825925

• Or complete the form overleaf andreturn it to The Landmark Trust,Shottesbrooke, Maidenhead,Berkshire SL6 3SW

*Published in October 2008

The clay lump barn at Manor Farm is an ancillary building which has found noobvious use but is important context for the Landmark, once the home of MonicaDance, redoubtable former Secretary of the Society for the Protection of AncientBuildings, and her husband Harry. Its greenestof construction materials, the local earth,requires regular maintenance to remain sound,though when it crumbles, the material canoften be gathered up and re-worked. Now KateEdwards and Charlotte Eve, practitioners ofthis reviving skill, have repaired the gable endwall of the barn for us, forming new clay blocksfrom wooden moulds which are then plasteredwith more clay and sealed with tar. Meanwhile,the ‘hat and boots’ (or topping and foundations)of the flanking clay block walls were provinginadequate protection against the rain, causingthe clay to sag, so the walls have been given agood new ‘hat’, this time of clay tiles. We feelsure the Dances would have approved.

The Landmark TrustShottesbrooke Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 3SWBookings 01628 825925 Office 01628 825920 Website www.landmarktrust.org.uk Charity registered in England & Wales 243312 and Scotland SC039205

St Edward’s Presbytery acquired in RamsgateA W Pugin’s house, The Grange in Ramsgate, is aflagship Landmark. At its main gate stands St Edward’sPresbytery, which plays an essential role in its setting. We were therefore delighted to secure the future of thepresbytery when it was put on the market earlier this yearby the monks of the adjoining Benedictine monastery (also founded by Pugin).

The presbytery was built by Pugin in 1851 to house aCatholic priest for the community and was later used as anoffice by Pugin’s son Edward, also a prominent architect.After Edward’s bankruptcy in 1872, the Pugin familymoved into the presbytery and let The Grange for income.

We were only able to make this important and defensive purchase thanks to a generous and timely legacyfrom the late Jacqueline Suter. We are now assessing the presbytery’s condition before deciding its precisefuture in our care, happy in the knowledge that we have also assured the setting of The Grange.

Forthcominglegacy events

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Printed on an FSC certified mixed sources paper containing50% recovered waste and 50% virgin fibre.

Introducing theWarren HouseThe Warren House is a diminutiveGrade II* folly on the escarpmentoverlooking Kimbolton Castle inHuntingdonshire, for which it actsas an eyecatcher. We accepted thegift of its freehold in 2004 from thepragmatic farmer on whose land itstood. Though weathertight afterroof repairs in the 1980s, thebuilding was derelict, gutted andattracting vandals.

Now, thanks to very generousgrants from The Monument Trustand English Heritage, we are farcloser to being able to rescue this building from serious risk. Waitingin the wings since 2004, theWarren House will make a perfecthideaway for two.

We will be writing to our supporterssoon with more information on ourplans, and launching an appeal toraise the balance.

Clay block repairs toManor Farm barn

St Edward’s Presbytery, Ramsgate

Linda Blay of Allan Janes,Landmark's Solicitors, kindlyvolunteers to give talks to oursupporters on how to minimiseinheritance tax through charitablegiving, the implications of notmaking a Will or not keeping itupdated, and other topical taxissues. These seminars are free and last about an hour.

If you are interested in attending aseminar, or would like a copy of ourlegacy guide, please visit our websiteor contact Emma Seymour on01628 825920.

Charlotte Eve shaping the clay blocks

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