Description
'A revelatory masterpiece, a true alternative history of our times' - Simon Jenkins, former Chair of the National Trust
'Thoroughly researched and elegantly written' - Peter Parker, TLS
LGBTQ+ histories and identities come out of the National Trust's properties in these touching, poignant and revealing stories.
National Trust houses and landscapes might seem to embody conventional family values, but for generations some very different stories were hidden away. These belong to owners now considered queer for defying the norms of sexual orientation or gender identity – sometimes blatantly, occasionally as open secrets, but most often very discreetly.
Michael Hall explores not only the best-known examples of sexual difference, such as Lawrence of Arabia at Clouds Hill, Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst and the 'Dancing Marquess' at Plas Newydd; he also covers more recently unveiled stories, such as the lesbian community at Smallhythe and the homosexual scandals associated with Clumber. Then there were the quietly confirmed bachelors, keen to pass their properties and collections to the Trust for posterity...
These stories are set against the queer history of the National Trust itself, such as its foundation in 1895 against the backdrop of Oscar Wilde's trials; hidden queer influences within the Trust in its early days; and the role of homophobia in its reorganisation in the 1960s; and the evolution to inclusivity and understanding in the twenty-first century.
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Table of Contents
Origins
1 City of night
2 Octavia Hill
3 The simple life
Places
4 Kingston Lacy
5 Clumber
6 Piney Copse
7 Knole
8 Sissinghurst
9 Smallhythe
10 Lamb House
11 Clouds Hill
12 Plas Newydd
Coteries
13 James Lees-Milne and the bachelor aesthetes
14 The lilies and the hob-nailed boots
Notes
Select bibliography
Acknowledgements
Picture and text credits
Index
Product details
| Published | 05 Feb 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 432 |
| ISBN | 9781781301166 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Caravel |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |