THE STATELY LIFE
Keeping up appearances
David Alexander
As the doors of Britain's stately homes open to let in the Easter crowds one cannot help thinking of the change in their fortunes over the last twenty years. The Gowers Report in 1950 spoke of their future in terms of impending catastrophe' as a result of the burden of taxation on their owners. But in 1950 it was only too easy to underestimate factors like the adaptability of owners and the curiosity of the public. While visitors are aware that no other country has anything similar to rival the wealth of their architecture and contents, it is the way of life they represent and their sheer impressiveness which fascinate and attract. To impress was the intention of many of them, though stately homes are strictly a minority among country houses. Most rural palaces have in effect been open since they were built if only in terms of gentry being admitted while the owner was away; nowadays of course spotting the owner is half the point of a visit. But the half-crown at the door, of which at least 20 pence seems the decimal equivalent, is now seldom the only source of visitor revenue. The interesting thing is that it is not so much the houses which have survived everything, but the estates. In the past rents supported the house, now it is the income from recreational activities that is increasingly important. Many landowners have been very quick to exploit the opportunities presented by increasing leisure. What a godsend the stately home has been to the couple with a car and children who cannot think where to take either. The owners may have devised more ways of taking money off them than anticipated but it is worth every penny. It is clear that owners like Lord Montagu of Beaulieu are pioneering the sort of leisure centres, with indoor and outdoor attractions, which large numbers of people want and are prepared to pay for. What then is the future for the stately home? Keeping up the appearance that it is still a home may be good for business but perhaps popularity has stripped some of the larger houses of some of their stateliness. At least they are alive and appreciated. While the motorways will put more houses in a position to draw the crowds, there are too many for them all to end up as leisure palaces; in any case few owners would want this to happen. Certainly the National Trust, as the body responsible for more stately homes than anyone else, is aware of the dangers of pressure on popular properties. Its ability to meet recreational demands is not tied to its houses, and National Trust visitors remain interested primarily in the house rather than sideshows. Consequently the work it does on stately homes can take the form of real enhancement; a notable example of this has been the incorporation of Mrs Gubbay's collections of ceramics and furniture into Clandon.
Another encouraging development is the way various bodies have helped to bring new life to some houses as centres for cultural activities. One of the most successful has been the Irish Georgian Society with Castletown, Co. Kildare, and for the third time a music festival, featuring the Tortehers, the Allegri Quartet and the Ulster Orchestra, is to he based on the house (June 12-18). For those who may feel that the English stately home is now safe the Irish Georgian Society represents a cause which deserves help, and which under present circumstances represents more than simply the attempt to rescue unloved houses.
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