Dismay over National Trust's changed role at house
BBCA former National Trust volunteer says he feels "disappointed" that members will no longer be able to visit one of the trust's properties for free.
The charity is set to hand over management of Coughton Court in Warwickshire to the Throckmorton family.
The family has lived there for 600 years, up to the present day, but in 1946 agreed to hand over the property's ownership to the trust. But a term in the lease enables the family to take over the running of the site - an option it has exercised.
As a result, trust members will have to pay for entry - a change about which the trust has not been transparent enough, Philip Roberts claims. The trust has apologised for the upset.
Under the terms, the trust will remain the property's owner, and the family will not pay rent, but they will be required to pick up the bill for maintenance.
This would include care of the collection of historic items on display in the property, and hiring conservation experts to look after it, National Trust bosses said.
Trust passes will not let in members free of charge from 2026.
Mr Roberts, who volunteered for the trust at Coughton, stated it was "a bit dishonest" for the trust not to have explained that when from February, he said, it still sought public donations for roof repairs.
The trust confirmed it was aware of the family's decision in January.
"In order to maintain a reputation as a respected institution, [the National Trust] has got to be straight with its members and the wider public," Mr Roberts said.
Oliver Burke, assistant director of operations at the National Trust, said costs for some projects at Coughton – such as recent roof repairs – exceeded available sums, and that the trust had needed to raise funds to help pay for the work.
"It was so urgently in need of doing that we really needed to bring the funds together to get that work done," he said.
"Unfortunately the timings of that have coincided with the family making this decision."
He said the family served notice in January, and that the trust would learn from the experience when asking people for donations for future projects elsewhere.
Mr Burke said he was sorry for the upset caused, and said it was a sign of how passionately people cared for Coughton Court.
No National Trust members of staff are expected to lose their jobs amid the changes, although some may have to transfer to a new organisation if they wish to continue working at the property.
Mr Roberts said that while generally he felt "a bit unhappy" about plans for the family to take back control, he understood their motivations and that this was their right as part of their agreement with the charity.
The trust had only directly managed the house for about 20 years, so it was now reverting back to the way it was run previously, he added.
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