Trust secures a piece of history

IF you like wandering around large country mansions, packed full of wonderful artefacts and history, then you should take a trip to the Tyntesfield Estate in Wraxall.

Tyntesfield, a magnificent Victorian country house near Bristol, has survived with its historic contents, gardens, park and estate buildings intact.

It was bought by the National Trust following a massive public appeal and a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The development project at Tyntesfield is still in the early stages and facilities on site are basic.

Visitors can now arrive on days of opening and visit at their own pace without having to pre-book.

Timed tickets for the house are in operation and entry cannot be guaranteed on very busy days and extremely high visitor numbers are expected during 2006.

There is a visitor reception, shop, catering kiosk and toilets on site.
Room interpreters are in every room of the house to explain the conservation work and history.

Just recently, the estate has been used as a film set for a major new period drama called Angel.

The film is set in England at the turn of the 19th century and recounts the rise of a poor but passionately determined young woman who climbs the social ladder by becoming a celebrated romantic novelist.
Filming has been taking place in both the house and gardens and has seen the National Trust having to transform the drawing room into a bedroom for a number of scenes.

Tyntesfield’s historic gardens are now open, with the walled kitchen garden, formal terraces and arboretum among the many treats in store for visitors in 2006.

It is also the first year for several exciting new attractions in the gardens and estate, including the first self-guided walk around areas of the wider estate and the first opportunity to follow the original path - now reinstated - that the Gibbs family used to take from the main house to the kitchen gardens.

Also introduced this year for the first time will be garden ‘interpreters’ - volunteers who have been trained in order to answer questions from visitors on the fascinating history of the gardens. Booking is essential if you want to benefit from this service.

For more details about Tyntesfield call 0870 241 4500 or book online at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events

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