The National Trust Wiltshire reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Congratulations on your serious incompetence!

Congratulations on your serious incompetence! I gifted a membership to a friend, you took payment from my account and then sent the gift recipient a demand to set up a Direct Debit!

Carol · 7 January 2026

★★★★★ 3/5

Trustpilot

We visited Kingston Lacey in May this…

We visited Kingston Lacey in May this year. The room stewards were amazing. So informative and friendly. We were disappointed that so little of the mansion was opened to the public. Also we were confused as to whom the leaflet given to us is aimed? Too old for young children, but condescending for adults. The time line of owners was very confusing. Should you be walking dogs in the gardens, the signage is very confusing and unclear as to how to return to the carpark without trespassing on areas where dogs are banned.

Sue · 12 May 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Flooded car - Ruined holiday

We booked a week at the Carolina Cellar cottage in Port Quin but unfortunately due to heavy rain the approach road to Port Quin became so flooded that we only just managed to get into the hamlet and park in the designated car space for the cottage.Things became very dangerous that evening and overnight as the car space became flooded with fast moving water and soil, flowing into the harbour. It was too dangerous to attempt to move the vehicle in the dark and there was nowhere safer to put it anyway. In the morning we found our car flooded with muddy water and abandoned our holiday. We raised a claim for a refund with the NT who promised to respond within 10 days but we have still not been contacted except to say they will respond by several NT staff who have passed us from one team to another and then to their headquarters.We have no faith that the NT will compensate us in any way. Port Quin itself represents a risk to life and property at times and it is questionable whether the NT should be leasing cottages in such poorly maintained places. As a result we have cancelled future planned holidays with the NT.After 45 days, we have been contacted by the NT’s insurance company, but from the content of their email we can see that they will claim that the NT cannot be responsible for damaging our vehicle even though we parked it exactly where we were told to - right in front of the Carolina Cellar cottage parking sign, which didn’t say “in heavy rain you are best to not park here but perhaps go home”

Vic · 9 May 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Kingston Lacy National Trust estate well worth a visit.

We thoroughly enjoyed 4 hours in and around the Kingston Lacy house and estate. We arrived in our 7m long motorhome and found plenty of parking for larger vehicles. The NT reception staff were cheerful and very helpful. We visited the house on a time slot with plenty of options available. The house interior is beautiful, well maintained and full of original antiques. All floors were open to visitors. Enthusiastic guides provided interesting details about the Bankes' Family history, art collection and antiquities. Having enjoyed a lovely lunch in the Stables café, we set off on a 3 mile flat gravel woodland trail that is well signposted. There are a number of shorter walks and at this time of year, colour is guaranteed in the form of cherry trees, tulips, daffodils and other spring flowering delights. A visit to Kingston Lacy is a must for young and old alike.

Steve · 19 April 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

AGM Voting a Shambles

It's a mornings work dozens on names loads of profiles. Members resolutions with no direct access to content. This hopeless presentation of AGM voting weighs heavily on the reputation of the Trust that we as a family used to value.

Geoffrey · 21 October 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

This is a review on child membership

This is a review on child membership. We love visiting many different places with our NT cards. 5 weeks ago we visited Cliveden with one of our grandchildren. He loves being outside in any weather and is not the sort of child glued to an iPad. The lady asked if we would like to sign him up for membership and he was delighted. Was told the card and a ‘lovely’ welcome pack would be sent to him in the next couple of weeks. Nothing was received. Rang and was told there was a back log. It arrived today to us and not him. What a total disappointment! All that was in the A5 envelope was a letter addressed to me, the card attached to a blank piece of paper and a 4 page leaflet aimed at adults! I rang to ask if this was the ‘lovely’ welcome pack to be told at 11 you get the adult information sent and not a welcome pack! I asked what age a child pack goes up to, she said up to 8. She said they assume at 11they will look on the internet for information. Come on. We are showing him amazing places, surely the NT should be sending a child’s welcome pack to an 11 year old. Why ahould everything be done electronically these days! These children will be your future adult customers so encourage them! I was them on hold for quite a while, she then came back and said child age does go to11 and he will now be sent the appropriate pack. Surely those on the phones should know this information.

Alison · 4 May 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

This is what I wrote on the Wakehurst…

This is what I wrote on the Wakehurst Google Review page;I’m sorry but the Trust is an entity that has been entrusted to safeguard OUR national heritage. It should be just that, not a money gouging entity who are clearly out to make a tidy profit. It’s outrageous that we should have to pay £7.00 for parking just to visit the coffee shop and visit their gift shop. To add insult to injury, the service at the coffee shop was a bit ordinary, and the shopping was prohibitively expensive.My 93 year old mum just doesn’t bother going to Wakehurst for those reasons.“Trust” my ass, you have become a profit making organisation with a political agenda, using our heritage to do so.

Duncan · 2 May 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Hot chocolate at Felbrigg Hall

Hot chocolate is part of a day out. However, at NT properties ( we have tested a few) what you get is not hot and is not chocolate. It's a cup of warm white froth with a hint of a brown colour. I also had a sausage roll, nice and hot, good looking pastry but not much sausage meat. Seemed to be filled with tasteless stuffing, guess this is cost saving. Would not recommend either product

HotChocReview · 8 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Support services a disgrace

Called national trust surport services to query yet again they haven’t sent me my enhanced companion cards. This is the second annual membership being renewed. In 2023 they said my application was processed incorrectly and now 2024 same thing. The lady I spoke with, I explained I have a brain injury and struggle with a neurological condition, but I have my daughter near me to assist with the call. I have her all my security details and then told the lady my daughter will speak. My daughter explained we need the companion cards. The lady said we will send them out, could take upto 14 days. Ok that’s fine we said. We asked about the card they sent us whether that is still valid. The lady said I am confused I don’t know what you want. She asked for security details again and said I can’t do anything to check the membership because your mum was unable to give her own details. My daughter gave me the phone, I said I am right here, I can give my details, so I did, At no point after I repeatedly told the lady how she is not giving me clear directions on what information she requires of me and the process she would like me to follow. I told her how stressful she’s making this call for me, she did not once show an ounce of empathy or acknowledged my vulnerability. I asked for a manager as I wanted to put a complaint. The manager tried calling me twice, I missed the calls. Then I get an email from him with a narrative of my complaint (I haven’t even spoken with him at no point to give my side of what my complaint is) and he has come up with a resolution that in future I need to give my own security check details. I am disgusted how I have been challenged and discriminated due to my disability. I have no confidence in this service. There’s no safeguarding for vulnerable people here.

Sam · 24 April 2024

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Love being a member.

Second year of membership and have visited some fabulous places. Worth it if you split the cost with a friend. We used public transport to get to all the venues and are now venturing further afield. Some of the guides have been superb. The staff, most of them volunteers are wonderful. Only had one member of staff who was less than helpful. The app is thorough and handbook and magazine are a good read.

Ambridge · 9 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

corporate destruction

As a NT life member for almost 50 years I have watched with sadness the descent of the NT into corporate downfall. They have done some good work, for example in the Studley estate, but recently they all have frequently abandoned their founding principles in favour of a ‘business’ model to make more money and pay for more ‘management’. Gone are the days of individual cafes and shops stocked with local produce, think Mrs Jennings at Wallington. Now, if you’re lucky to find them open because of self inflicted staff shortages, the poor quality stock comes from a hopeless and inefficient central purchasing department. Presentations are PC and dumbed down to the lowest denominator. Those volunteers who haven’t left appear demoralised by management edicts e g to have interminable meetings re job descriptions etc. while expertise garnered over decades in gardens and building conservation have been forced out in favour of money oriented ‘managers’.HHA properties are much better managed by their owners/ trusts than those of the centrally ‘directed’ NT as are those of English Heritage/Historic Scotland As member I feel powerless to reverse the trend against the steam roller of the current ‘management’ who must surely have been appointed because of their record of failures? Of the magazines we get:- NT, NTS, Historic Scotland, HHA, JM Trust etc the NT magazine stands out as the least interesting or relevant.When I joined, our wills left significant amounts to the NT but we have changed this to organisations such as Friends of the Lakes, JM Trust etc that have (so far) not been taken over by ‘woke’ corporate (mis)management. I’m pretty sure that if Mrs Heelis were alive today she wouldn’t be entrusting much of the Lakes to the current NT ‘management’

Good · 28 February 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Is being a National Trust member worth it!

Went to the Vyne near Basingstoke twice for the Christmas decorations display and sadly was told that it was at capacity. You can’t pre-book a time slot without going, so I can’t really see the point in paying our membership. Very disappointed that an organisation such as the National Trust can’t foresee and overcome this sort of issue, starting to question our membership now!

Steve · 20 December 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Completely useless response to accident …

Hardy's house, Max Gate has a crumbling rutted drive. On a visit to Max Gate we were asked to turn our attention to the large trees around the garden and my foot dropped into a rut and I fell over onto the drive. I sustained a damage to my knee and torn clothes and broken camera. They insisted on taking a full report on the day. I was told by the local manager that some compensation would be made and put in touch with Zurich, their insurers. They are dragging this out and it seems that Zurich and NT are not interested in providing any kind of service over this. It will pass the two year anniversary soon.

Geoffrey · 3 April 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

no guests for lifetime members.

no guests for lifetime members.national trust changed their policy on allowing life time memberships (since march 2023) to bring a guest with them but have been very opaque about the policy change.I sent a lengthy email asking about this and received a one liner in reply saying guests are not allowed.seems rather foolish considering the amount of money national trust would get for a lifetime membership.based on this I will never again visit any national trust property or support the organisation. Great job NT

Mike · 1 April 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely awful customer service… AVOID

Absolutely awful customer service, signed up to their individual membership 5th Feb. Didn’t get any confirmation through however they took full payment straight away. Tried emailing 3 times and got no response, then when I called I was waiting to get through for up to 45 minutes each time. Spoke to a member of staff on 10th Feb who told me that the membership was pending due to their new system and they couldn’t refund me or give me a membership number and that they would call me back same day to give me a time frame of resolution and that someone would also call me during the week to resolve it. Received neither of the calls that were promised, so called up again 17th Feb and waited another 40 minutes to speak with someone who told me that they couldn’t do anything because it was now with their resolutions team who has to speak with their finance team to which neither of those teams have a contact number and then I would have to wait for someone else to contact me in the week. The lady who I spoke with on the 17th Feb was beyond patronising and unhelpful yet to have any kind of conclusion on whether I can get my money back or receive a membership.

L · 17 February 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Rip off and untrustworthy so-called Charity

Completely out of touch with the public as most of us would have seen in the papers and now that has bled into how they are treating the cash strapped public and to dishonestly have such different pricing for individuals.I inquired about an individual membership as there is a huge difference on what is on their website for the gullible public and what is being paid for by others.On the call as on the website I was told its now £91.20 for the annual membership (this is double the below 26 years of age..) I'm still waiting for a justification.. but what is worse is that this cost is more than others who have had membership for a while and are a family of 4.. how on earth is this not a rip off? Will definitely not be paying that and be putting in an official complaint. I spoke to the customer service person who was completely apathetic, unsympathetic and just said i could pay monthly.. well no.. i do not want to be ripped off and no i do not want to pay a total of £91.20 for an individual. Talk about penalising someone for aging but not old enough to get 25% off, a cynical attempt to rip off those who are single with the obvious assumption that they have no dependants.. or single with children under 5.. because the latter obviously have been given no thought in your need to rip people off either.So much for the Trust in National Trust.

R · 20 March 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

I find it hard to imagine why national…

I find it hard to imagine why national trust do not enable one to download ones membership onto ones phone.Many of us go out these days with our phones and no wallet or purse with cash and pay for items from ones phone. Even railcards are online now.Also the level of catering falls well below the level of many similar establishments and as such one no longer wishes to call in for tea and cakes.

Judith · 21 June 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

DON'T GET ON ITS MAILING LIST

It seems all this organization does is get seniors on its mailing list, sells the names to anyone, and it is then impossible to be removed from its mailing lists. Somehow my mother got on its list with my home address. My Mother passed away in 2014 and I have received so many junk mailings from this organization since then. It is disconcerting to constantly receive junk mail addressed to a deceased parent. I decided to try to stop it by contacting the organization. A person who has identified himself/herself as its Director (although I suspect that is an alias and is a lie like everything else he/she has stated in emails sent by him/her since September of 2023) told me the mailings would stop, but I continue to get their junk mail addressed to my deceased mother. I have the emails sent to me which are a pack of lies. I think substantially all their income is derived from just selling names and addresses to whoever and whatever will pay them. Stay away from this organization. You can't TRUST it.

Ben · 17 March 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Customer service

After deciding to get this membership we were then informed that there was an under 25’s selection you could make which would make it a lot cheaper. Rather than paying the £68 per person price it would be £45. We only got the membership last week so we were hoping that they would be understanding, however after calling this morning to ask if there was something we could do we were told quiet bluntly told that there was nothing that they could do and they are a Charity so of course they wouldn’t do that. It’s a shame that there was such a lack in customer service.

Dan · 16 March 2024

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

I visited Nymans today with a group of…

I visited Nymans today with a group of friends some members some not. I was disappointed at the entrance to find I was not able to include a guest ( I have been a member for many many years but not used membership). As a member of the RHS I am able to admit a guest. I have to say that this policy is short sighted on your part as the guest may decide to take a membership themselves and it is at least another person to use the cafe shop etc. my friend tried to pay her entry but was bombarded by your staff member who would not accept no for an answer. She kept on and on about taking a membership or paying to get in and paying more for a donation. To the point where I had to say ‘what part of no do you not understand’ It was like being sold a time share. Clearly your staff are on a bonus for signing up new members but it is a most unpleasant experience for your members and their guest. Whilst you may think this policy is beneficial I can assure you it’s not and you make people question why they are bothering. Please address this unhelpful attitude and return our visits to the extremely pleasant experience they should be. Marian Wallbank

Marian · 14 March 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

THE NATIONAL DISGRACE!

THE NATIONAL DISGRACE!Quoted from there own website "is to play a major role in the fight against climate change". Visited the Circles Restaurant at Avebury last week, heating on high throughout restaurant and door wide open. Asked why and was told " so people can see we are open?? We are in an energy crisis, costs never been higher!!! There is a very big sign outside stating they are open and the opening times and all the lights were on. Typical of the NT, expect people to donate to them and then waste money.Used to be a member but the more I found out about them the more disgusted I became. They seem to think they are the land owners. it will come back to the mass trespass and the right to roam again eventually with there attitude. I remember during the pandemic when people were finally allowed out and really needed to get out. In the hour of need of the people when they could have done something what did the NT do? Ban anyone from staying on "THEIR" lands! Scotland opened up areas of land for the people. I really feel there should be a serious investigation into the running and direction the trust is being taken. They are becoming like the land owners of old "get of my land"

Graham · 16 January 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Non refundable membership

Non refundable, not clearly stated at the time of purchase, not many things to do in my area, from a few locations chosen to visit, for more than half I still have to pay the parking.Just be mindful for what you are actually signing up for, no cooling off period. Feeling like the membership is designed to take the money off you with little in exchange. My mistake for not checking better t&c in advance.

Andreea · 14 June 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Price is up by nearly 10% and at the same time the value has halved since this time last year.

You just lost out on another £2200 here. What kind of awful awful person would do this? Have you had a change of manager or let the wrong person onto the board or something?I can't tell if you are trying to be really nasty and keep people out, or if you are just totally out of touch?You have secretly changed the rules so lifetime members have to go on their own or pay again if they want to take someone. You have absolutely misjudged why people buy lifetime membership gifts for people. It's obviously not a cost-saving exercise at over £2k a pop. You would have to live for around 25 years and buy NT membership every year just to break even.It's not well advertised, but buried in the small print you've halved the value of lifetime membership from two people / visit to one while at the same time putting the price up by 10%. That's a 120% increase in price!It was very close. We nearly paid you, but realised just in time what you had done.By removing the "take a friend with you if you want" option you've just lost another sale.We bought a lifetime membership for our son three years ago. It was the most expensive gift we ever bought him, but knew that he would always have place to go no matter where he was, no matter how tough life got and no matter who he ended up with. We bought him "happiness after we are gone".We were about to buy the same gift again but now you are selling, "be on your own", "can't invite a friend" and "the gift of loneliness". You have totally missed that National Trust is not always about the buildings, it's about the day out. It's about always having somewhere to go and it's about always being able to take someone somewhere when they just need a friend.Not everyone has £15 to spend when you just want to go somewhere for an hour with someone you care about.You've transformed "Lifetime Membership" into a voucher for a table for one at a restaurant. Who would give someone a gift of one cinema ticket on its own and expect them to be happy?And then you've cut and pasted a response to others complaining about the same thing on Trustpilot, justifying what you've done by saying it's because you want more gift-aid money, and it caused poor sales with your "2 members of the same house package". If you just want more money then sell then sell the +1 option as well and let people choose.Not everyone wants to go somewhere with the same person every month for the rest of their life. You must know that.Be honest, don't hide what you are doing like this. This policy has changed the tone (and by the look of things, the reputation) of the National Trust completely. The current custodians could do well to reflect on how they are performing in comparison to every other generation before them.I'll be keeping the £2200 for now though. There are better gifts available for £2K than making someone walk around a stately home on their own every month for 25 years! National? Maybe. Trust? Maybe not.

Anthony · 6 March 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Furious with NT changing the terms

Furious that the change in life membership no longer includes the ability to take a guest. My mother-in-law just bought my daughter a lifetime membership in January on the understanding that my daughter could go along with her, or me, or(as she gets older) a friend escorting her for free. We can’t attend for free and feel utterly ripped off. It should have been really clearly highlighted that the conditions had changed when my mother-in-law signed up.National Trust are fixated on making money these days and have completely lost sight of the community which treasures the historical properties under its management. Its starting to become really questionable how the NT has gained such a monopoly on stewarding our history and government needs to start questioning and challenging their practices. Please look on line for a number of petitions that are looking to start holding NT to account for their increasingly disconnected management.I’ve seen they are justifying this action by gift aid restrictions…. Well I will quite happily not gift aid them anyway and am most unhappy that they seem to have made the changes as discretely as possible. If they claim this is standard commercial practice, then that shows just how far they have fallen….. This is an organisation that should be trying to serve its members best interests, not trying to fleece them!

Happy · 25 February 2024