The National Trust Swindon reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

mercenary excuse for a charity

Absolute mercenary excuse for a charity.Visited Blickling Hall for a Park Run and forced to pay £ 5.00 for an hours parking.Members get a discount but I didn’t have £100 to spare.Other National Trust sites give you a discount for these events…Even to go to church you have to pay?Not disabled friendly either.Best avoided.

Me · 9 November 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

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I am on the verge of cancelling our…

I am on the verge of cancelling our family NT membership, after almost 15 years. The two reasons are; the abysmal shambles they made of access over lock-down - poor booking service, limited capacity at huge sites, inflexible admissions policy. The second, is the rising feeling that we, the ordinary members, are something of an embarrassment - the increasingly patronising and politised virtue signalling, the lack of real critical thinking and smug assumption that the members want the NT to be associated with marxist political movements. The leadership seems to have been Common Purposed. The lecture over slavery and the Empire is a crossing the rubicon moment. A healthy critical debate (plantation slave exploitation v Wilberforce and the West Africa Squadron) would have been a far more erudite approach.

Dieter · 14 April 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

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Horsey Wind pump Norfolk

Horsey Wind pump NorfolkA comprehensive tourist trap. Expensive parking, Expensive facilities and ridiculously expensive cafe.Visited today with the intention of taking pictures from the top of the windmill. £4 minimum parking fee. £7 per person to climb mill and one look at the price of a coffee and we left. Foolishly we paid for parking then we left.

Bill · 30 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Bad, worse, the worst

Bad, time wasting, not working booking system. Unknown "safety rules" applied for outdoor visitors. Close to impossible to book any visit. Policing visitors on entry. All the above "brilliant" experience for my own money. I requested full refund as I get nothing for the money. Constant fight for ANY entrance, then matching all other plans to be there on time - is that worth it ? Definitely not.Update 02/04/2021: I have requested refund of my membership as National Trust made it highly difficult or impossible to get to properties. Response I received: "Due to charity tax rules surrounding Gift Aid, we're unable to refund membership fees." How convenient?! Best business in the world! After you paid them they can do whatever! There is a catch though I never allowed so cold Gift Aid - that fact obviously does not matter as they got the money so they can do whatever with no consequences. I thought twice already about ANY future membership with National trust.

R · 2 April 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Should we ever re-join?

Today we went walking through NT woodland at Ightham Mote, finishing at the cafe. Despite it being close to Easter, and many people purchasing take away food and drink, all the picnic tables were cordoned behind fences. This week is the first time that we have been allowed to picnic and sit down. People were perching on fences and logs. Not a promising start to persuading those of us who cancelled our memberships after many years, that re-joining is a possible option!

Charles · 31 March 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

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Beware of auto-renewal

Membership auto-renews unless you cancel.

Martin · 9 April 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Like many others we have cancelled our funding.

Like many others we have cancelled our long-standing membership in disgust. Membership is quite expensive and whist we did not visit NT sites often we were keen to support our national heritage which, on the whole, we are proud of. We are certainly not prepared to give money to an organisation now intent on destroying our heritage. That is what will happen with this significant reduction in funding and that is a tragedy! Thousands of volunteers have also withdrawn their support. The present management do not seem to grasp the principle that if you put ANYTHING under intense investigation you will probably discover something which is less than perfect. So to quote a previous reviewer: NT, you need to wake-up not woke-up!

Grahame16 · 12 March 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

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Myself and husband have recently…

Myself and husband have recently visited Brockhampton Court in Herefordshire to walk our daughters dog, we were greeted by Jan, what a lovely lady, she explained to us that we had to be members of the National trust in order to enter, we had a great chat about Brockhampton Court and some history, she said we could walk the dog in a certain area, which we did, upon returning home, we sat with a warming cup of tea and got straight onto the National Trust website and joined, this weekend I returned with my daughter and went for a very wet walk walk, we saw Jan again which was brilliant as I was able to tell her that we had joined, mostly as a result of her, both my husband and myself both said that we really liked her, full of information but happy to be doing what she was doing, genuine, chatty and extremely helpful, thank you Jan

Rebecca · 21 February 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

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Never received there magazines or any…

Never received there magazines or any National trust said you would get for joining them.

Bear · 11 January 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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I used to love the National Trust

I used to love the National Trust. My Parents were life members. Amazing historical assets built up over years. Fantastic gardens. A network of volunteers who swear by the enjoyment they get for helping NT.But now it's been taken over by wokeness. A management who subscribes to a very narrow view of what's important in the National Trust. A fundamental Political view - 'We need to change your way of thinking'. 'You should be asked to feel guilty about these things we've identified in the past'.Well most of us know bad things happened in the past. We don't this narrow view rammend down our throat constantly by strident self righteous young graduates.I wrote to the DG and got a brush-off letter from a member of her team about my concerns.How did this happen?How can a political group take over the management of such a vital national institution?If someone sets up a lobby to remove the current management I'll join it.And in the meantime how many organisations refuse to give a refund for 10 months remaining membership when you want to leave? Not good faith.

Rich · 21 January 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Beware Membership Renewal and Policies

Like many others here, I'm appalled at the inability to cancel my membership.I had signed on for an annual membership autumn 2019. Early spring 2020 I looked into canceling, but could not do so on the website- in fact, website says to use "live chat" to cancel, but chat feature is unavailable every time I check. Lines were busy to call, and email listed implored people to only use it for urgent matters.After a few times of checking the website to see if the chat feature was back I completely forgot about it until I recently noticed it's still coming out of my bank account- three or so months after the year I signed up for.I am disgusted to find that I was automatically renewed for another year long subscription without my express authorization to do so, and am locked into the full term.Reaching out to the company I am told that I was mailed new cards and information about my membership (never did see those, nor is there any place on the website for me to keep my address updated).I received a stupid amount of marketing emails the past year, all whilst we can't go to closed NT sites- but they couldn't email me to ask for a renewal?I wasn't too bothered to keep paying through my full year even during a pandemic as I felt it was for a good cause, but now I will be avoiding visiting their sites in the future as well.

Kayla · 18 January 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

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Terrible experience this evening at…

Terrible experience this evening at Kingston Lacy Ignite. Enquired halfway round why it was so different to last year (which was amazing) to be told most of the display was turned off due to the approaching storm. Why were we not told this upon entry and offered either an alternative date or a full refund. So disappointed and not worth the £75! Extremely concerned for Kingston Lacy that visitors may not return as it is a stunning venue and being an NT Member we visit often . I understand it was an external company IGNITE hired in and after visiting Stourhead just before Christmas we were left extremely disappointed this evening .

Louise · 26 December 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Ignite Kingston Lacy

Ignite Kingston Lacy. We visited the display on the 23rd December and were thoroughly dismayed by what we saw. It is Christmas, yet there was not one Christmas tree lit up, no festive displays, it could have been any time of the year. Clearly Ignite are not part of the National Trust, they put on a show and like a circus move on from town to town, year on year, hoping no one reads their poor reviews. We had already cancelled our membership due to the proposal to make NT properties like theme parks, and the potential government review into NT charitable status. This visit to Ignite was to be our last before membership expired. Yes, yet again the NT has shot itself in the foot by supporting and providing space to a private company to stage such a poor show. In past years Kingston Lacy has put on their own Christmas displays, the Ignite display doesn't hold a candle to the home grown production.

Peter · 25 December 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

National Trust Restrictions

Firstly just let me say that the National trust staff especially the lady at the entry point at Canons Ashby yesterday was very welcoming, but those running the National Trust should seriously reconsider their non sensical restrictions. Example yesterday I was interested in a buying an out door plant on display outdoors in the Canons Ashby courtyard area but the NT had stated that due to government restrictions I can't. Yet I can purchase the same plant indoors in supermarkets, gardens centres, and even florists on that the same day without any restriction. Is the National trust interpretation even correct on this matter I wonder? FYI viruses hate outdoors it kills them. So If customers can paid by card as they do now at the NT food stations, what is the problem.Your staff then don't have to touch the plants or any other outside saleable goods if that's your reasoning and customers can take their own precautions whichthey already have to do when venturing their own homes.Now the new National Trust booking system this concerns me even moreI as I feel that many people will be in effect unable to use a service they paid for.The National Trust have authorized a booking service which means customers have to book slots on Friday at a rather unsocial time for any visit till the next Friday and though we did manage get a slot at Canons Ashby this was only possible by booking at 3am on Friday and by that time Packwood House was already fully booked! The above fact must mean a lot of disappointment for many members simply looking to visit anywhere locally and as it's not actually against the law to travel in this Lock down members from much farther afield will be in competition against local people booking tickets. Also allocation of tickets is unfair on key workers and parents with children in school as the times they will be able to visit will naturally be restricted. Restricting people in outdoor spaces when people can freely access other outdoor spaces without numbers restrictions seems illogical and the argument that there be would be too many people in the more confined spaces doesn't hold water either as these spaces were at Canons Ashby at least blocked off. So you had five families at 10.30am yesterday in a place like Canons Ashby with parkland when you could have allowed many more members and their much needed revenue in. So if you are even thinking of continuing the booking system after Covid please don't as I will not bother joining again.

Anderson · 15 November 2020

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Get the houses open

Having been a member for many years I am disappointed at the current direction of the NT. This isn't because of the report relating to slavery. Clearly exploitation of slaves and of the British working class needs to be part of the story of how many of the fine houses came to be built but not a source of self-flagellation because it all pre-dated the Trust. What concerns me most are the hints at what will happen to the houses. Hilary McGrady clearly loves the outdoors (listen to her on Desert Island discs) and seems bent on moving the NT away from a combination of historic properties and open spaces to more of the latter. There was self-congratulation about "swift decisions being made" post lockdown but look at how few NT houses opened whilst Historic Houses properties were open in the face of similar issues. Volunteer gardeners not recalled to work in the open! Yes, mention the exploitation - it is part of the history, but let's not become deflected from the Trust's change of direction otherwise there will be fewer houses to view, whether or not the full history is told.

Reginald · 12 November 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Emailed the Trust no response

Emailed the Trust, but Two weeks later no responses. As where possible I prefer to avoid leaving negative feedback and give an organisation the chance to respond...Since the Covid Lockdown, the booking system to actually get into anything is absolutely diabolical. Not only is it the most time consuming and difficult experience in the world, you must search each house individually, by each day, and there is never any availability either. Two weeks ago was half term in the West Midlands, tickets went on sale on Friday which is when most people are working. On Monday morning my friends and I tried to book tickets, previously we haven't been able to gain access to anything since lockdown restrictions were lifted. On most school holidays historically, we would always get together to visit a National Trust property together. Eventually, one of us found a slot late on the Friday at a house one and half hours’ drive from Warwickshire. No other slots available during the week, or at nearer house, despite approximately 10 houses being closer. We turned up at the house, were informed that the cafe, house, shop plus everything was due to shortly close. Very disappointed to note that despite it being half term, it was pretty empty, it appears an entire over reaction to the possible dangers of covid in what is an outside space essentially (as we couldn't get in the house anyway) and we only saw three other families. It's fair to say the average age of an attendees was over 70 plus, without any grandchildren in tow. We all work full time, we are limited to school holidays, and, yet there was no encouragement on the website or at the entrance for those with more flexibility to consider booking/visiting outside of peak school holidays. Or even restrictions locked into the website to prioritise family tickets and minimise the purchasing of adult tickets. When I spoke to their staff, they mentioned that at off peak times customers can now turn up but are not guaranteed entry to house. It's not fair on families, or adults that are restricted to school holidays (such as teachers) this year I haven't had the opportunity to book any of their houses or gardens due to the issues mentioned above. The gardens at Hidcote were stunning and we really enjoyed the visit albeit it was getting a little dark. However, I would urge to them to urgently reconsider their booking processes as Eventbrite is simply not suitable for these purposes and at the very least encourage members to consider booking outside of peak school holidays, if they can. Also as a goodwill to members they should extend membership beyond lockdown. I appreciate they may not be able to afford to refund but to extend the membership does not sound unreasonable considering all the billions they have in stocks and shares.My parents very kindly gift us a National Trust membership every year for Christmas, if things continue like this, I will be asking them to cancel our family membership as it is a total waste of time and money.

Kate · 8 November 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

NT are uncontactable!

There was a problem with my membership cards. I telephoned on numerous occasions but nobody answered. I emailed twice, with no replies. None of the NT information online gives you specific emails for NT executives or Board members so you cannot actually communicate with or complain to the people in charge. Even the Head Office telephone number has now been cut off!

Charles · 11 May 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The National Trust has completely lost its way

Sadly I have, like many, resigned my membership (and joined the RNLI instead.) I can no longer support the National Trust as an organisation which has lost sight of the core task of maintaining and improving the fabric of the nations great buildings and landscapes turning instead to political correctness and Woke'ishness. Its attempts to "correct" thinking amongst staff and volunteers that they believe is "incorrect" is Orwellian in nature. That is not what I want my membership fee spent on.The very last straw was the Trust's focus on slave trade funding Penrhyn Castle in North Wales but to the almost complete exclusion of mentioning the ex-owning family's appalling treatment of Welsh quarrymen in the 19th Century. It seems the Trust simply jumped on the political bandwagon of BLM. That is not "education" in my opinion.It would appear the Trust is as a result of the changes now losing significant support, volunteers and member income so its core task of maintaining the fabric of the buildings must be at risk. That in turn appears to be a dereliction of the Trusts responsibilities as a charity. Very very sad but I will not be supporting the Trust again until it changes direction.

Iain · 24 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

NT Board ignoring its core audience

As with many other posters, I resent the NT Boards determination to be woke and the frantic efforts to appeal to a younger more "diverse" membership. M&S tried that and look where it got them. After shaming the original owners of properties for involvement in the Slave Trade (often very indirectly), will you be looking at the majority of 18th and 19th century properties that were founded on the Coal Trade. Research the conditions young children worked and died in or watch your grand dads die of miners lung as I did as a teenager and say it wasn't a form of slavery.History is frozen in time and you cannot judge by todays standards.Slavery was a terrible thing and still is in Africa and The Middle East but so where many other things.

Bill · 24 October 2020

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

We got there... eventually.

OK, so we had a problem in that EVERY year we have had to chase up the National Trust for new membership cards - which, of course, are essential if you want to be able to park in many of the National Trust car parks as a member, for free!This year was no different.However, we have now received cards and a generous gesture...So, lets cross fingers that all will be well next year.

Geoff · 20 September 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Parking places are much to…

Parking places are much to expensive.There are nowhere any parking places at the seaside , which are reasonable priced. The nature is for recreation for the everyone .I can't afford these high prices if I would like to go for a walk more often I find it disgusting to take money of the people who want to experience nature and recreate in it The nature isn't a zoo. It is our right to visit it.

Nina · 28 July 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

And another institution joins the bandwagon !

My first reaction to the Report is firstly disgust. The National Trust have been guardians over these properties for a long time and I can only conclude that, like Dr Fischer at The British Museum, have seen this as an opportunity to jump on the Woke/BLM bandwagon and indulge yourselves in corporate virtue-signalling. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Black activists and their fellow leftist white travellers have resurrected issues from our past to indulge in anti-white, anti-British and anti-capitalist invective. And you, to your shame have joined them by abusing your position to politicise the Trust’s primary role. And it is because you actually believe that Europeans invented slavery and empire. The Report is ahistorical and lopsided and based on the usual treatment of history through the ethics and morality of the 20th/21st century rather than the norms and mores of the time. And you get away with this because the vast majority of the British public are fed this nonsense on a daily basis without challenge. To understand the kind of people who work for/influence the Trust just google one of the Report's editors, Corinne Fowler. There is a long tradition of anti-English sentiment amongst smug leftists/liberals. But consider this, the vast majority of Trust members are of a generation that treasures it’s past and, just like the BBC, you will reap the wind for disregarding them.

Roger · 29 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

'Trust' - to hold in trust for future generations ...

Like many on here I've been an NT member for more than 45 years and for the last 20 years a Life Member (so they've already got my money!). Managing the Covid safeguarding situation is a tricky one and is bound to disappoint many - not least the ability to drop in on spec at a property when travelling.However, the latest politicization of the Trust's activities is intolerable and indefensible, in addition to the giving up of smaller properties and the 'popularization' of others. Tranmer House at Sutton Hoo has already been redesigned and it is now a sterile, dull space and a truly dreadful experience to visit. This is just one example. The powers-that-be at the NT should remember the second word of its name - Trust - which means that they hold in trust, for future generations, these properties that are so much a part of our heritage. As for the 'woke' agenda: slavery is intolerable, to be sure, but it has been the way of life in many countries at many periods in history - Britons were Roman slaves once!Hopefully we now know better. But we commemorate most of our heroes for other reasons - defending our country, reforming the way we live (including abolishing slavery!), designing fine houses, painting wonderful pictures, writing great literature and poems. Is all this to be erased just because they lived in a particular era? Octavia Hill and Canon Rawnsley must be spinning in their graves!Finally, although we may agree that black lives (and all lives) matter, BLM is an avowedly Marxist organization intent on disrupting the democratic order of things (see its website!). Why are so many people and organizations kowtowing to its demands to erase our history and culture (and giving it vast amounts of money)?Neil Oliver said in a recent article in Radio Times, in connection with pulling down statues, etc., that (I'm paraphrasing) all generations think they're right, but over time they are usually proved wrong.

Garry · 26 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Thanks for the ‘lesson’

So I learnt on my latest visit to the National Trust that the beautiful Dyrham Park was built by William Blaithwaite who apparently benefited directly from the slave trade. So clearly The National Trust, has also benefited from the consequences of the slave trade, and by association all the highly paid (some may so over paid) executives at the Trust have also benefited from the slave trade. I’m so ‘grateful’ to Hilary McGrady and her Colonialism experts for naming and shaming such properties and their owners because now I will do the honourable thing and cancel my NT membership so that she and her other privileged colleagues don’t have to continue to be paid with blood money. Phew, I feel so much better now. Though of course I am sorry that the hard working staff (those who still have a job) and volunteers will probably be the ones to suffer once all the supporting members with a conscience also cancel their support. But never mind at least Helen and her team achieved what they set out to do, whatever that was?

Janey · 25 September 2020