BRITISH FAMILIES GIVE UP THEIR STATELY HOMES

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 April 1947, Page 3

BRITISH FAMILIES GIVE UP THEIR STATELY HOMES

[N.Z.P.A. SPECIAL COBRESPONDENT] LONDON, April 14. Under present conditions it is impossible for any but the wealthiest families to keep up large country and town houses, and as a result more and more of the stately homes of England are being transferred to the National Trust, cut up into fiats or apartments, or sold as offices. During the war many large firms found it convenient to decentralise their activities and take premises out of London and other large cities. A number of firms are now discussing the lease or purchase of country mansions with the idea of finding office accommodation away from the cities. In addition to Himley Hall, the National Coal Board has recently acquired seven other large country properties for development as regional headquarters. Sherwood Lodge, near Nottingham, the former home of Lord Sherwood, has been converted into headquarters for the East Midlands Divisional Coal Board, and Lindley Lodge, near Nuneaton, will become headquarters for the West Midlands Division. Ranmoor Hall, near Sheffield, and the castle at Castle Eden, County Durham, are two more properties recently acquired for coal board purposes. London firms say that the problem of finding staff accommodation generally is too difficult to encourage a large-scale movement away from the capital, but in the Midlands and the north a number of large firms and Government departments have recently transferred from the towns to the country.