Historic Houses Association
Encyclopedia
The Historic Houses Association, a not for profit organsiation, represents 1,500 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK. These are listed buildings or registered gardens, usually Grade I or II* and often outstanding.
300 HHA houses are open to the public for day visits, attracting between them 14 million visitors each year. Others open by appointment or for special visits, weddings or corporate events. There are more privately owned historic houses open to the public than those in the care of the National Trust, English Heritage and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland put together. The HHA works for the future of these houses, the heritage they conserve and the businesses, families and employees they support by lobbying at national, regional and local level. It provides technical and specialist advice and guidance, seminars, networks and information for its member houses.
The HHA offers a Friends' Membership for people wishing to support the HHA's aims and enjoy free visits to HHA houses open to the public, special group tours of houses which are not normally open and four issues a year of the Association's magazine, "Historic House".
300 HHA houses are open to the public for day visits, attracting between them 14 million visitors each year. Others open by appointment or for special visits, weddings or corporate events. There are more privately owned historic houses open to the public than those in the care of the National Trust, English Heritage and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland put together. The HHA works for the future of these houses, the heritage they conserve and the businesses, families and employees they support by lobbying at national, regional and local level. It provides technical and specialist advice and guidance, seminars, networks and information for its member houses.
The HHA offers a Friends' Membership for people wishing to support the HHA's aims and enjoy free visits to HHA houses open to the public, special group tours of houses which are not normally open and four issues a year of the Association's magazine, "Historic House".
Some well known houses which belong to HHA members
There are three hundred houses to which members of "The Friends of the Historic Houses Association" are entitled to free entry including:- Alnwick CastleAlnwick CastleAlnwick Castle is a castle and stately home in the town of the same name in the English county of Northumberland. It is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:Alnwick...
- Belvoir CastleBelvoir CastleBelvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir . It is a Grade I listed building....
- Berkeley CastleBerkeley CastleBerkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK . The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the...
- Blenheim PalaceBlenheim PalaceBlenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
- Boughton HouseBoughton HouseBoughton House is a country house about north-east of Kettering off the A43 road near Geddington in Northamptonshire, England, which belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch.-History:...
- Burghley HouseBurghley HouseBurghley House is a grand 16th-century country house near the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England...
- Castle HowardCastle HowardCastle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...
- Doddington Hall, CheshireDoddington Hall, CheshireDoddington Hall is a country house in Doddington Park in the civil parish of Doddington, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building....
- Drumlanrig CastleDrumlanrig CastleDrumlanrig Castle sits on the Queensberry Estate in Scotland's Dumfries and Galloway.The Castle is the Dumfriesshire family home to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry...
- Hever CastleHever CastleHever Castle is located in the village of Hever near Edenbridge, Kent, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century...
- Holkham HallHolkham HallHolkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
- LongleatLongleatLongleat is an English stately home, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set...
- Syon Park
- Wilton HouseWilton HouseWilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
- Woburn AbbeyWoburn AbbeyWoburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...