The Destruction of the Country House 1875–1975 was an exhibition held at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

(V&A) in 1974, commissioned by V&A Director

Roy Strong Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...

and curated by John Harris,

Marcus Binney Marcus Hugh Crofton Binney (born Simms; 21 September 1944) is a British architectural historian and author. He is best known for his conservation work regarding Britain's heritage. Early and family life Binney is the son of Lieutenant-Colonel F ...

and Peter Thornton (then working, respectively, at the

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, '' Country Life'' magazine and the V&A Department of Furniture and Woodwork). The exhibition included a "Hall of Destruction", decorated with falling columns and illustrations of some of the thousand country houses demolished since 1875, brought down by falling estate incomes, rising costs, death duties, and damage caused by government requisitioning during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Described as a "landmark" exhibition,RIBAJournal.com
/ref> the graphic illustration of the scale of destruction of Britain's built heritage changed public opinion and encouraged moves to protect the country houses that remained. The success of the exhibition inspired the formation of the campaigning group,

Save Britain's Heritage Save Britain's Heritage (styled as ''SAVE Britain's Heritage'') is a British charity, created in 1975 by a group of journalists, historians, architects, and planners to campaign publicly for endangered historic buildings. It is also active on the ...

, in 1975 – a year that was designated as European Architectural Heritage Year by the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

- but the changed public mood could not prevent the sale of the extraordinary collection of art and furniture at

Mentmore Towers Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...

in 1975, and of the empty building itself in 1977, to pay taxes following the death of

Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, 2nd Earl of Midlothian (8 January 1882 – 31 May 1974), styled Lord Dalmeny until 1929, was a British liberal politician who briefly served as Secretary of State for Scotland ...

in 1973. The exhibition was followed in 1977 and 1979 by two further exhibitions at the V&A on British architectural heritage: ''Change and Decay: The Future of our Churches'' (curated by Strong, Binney and

Peter Burman Peter Burman (Peter Ashley Thomas Insull Burman, MBE FSA, born Solihull,John Barcroft and Martin Butler Booth, ''A Register of Admissions to King's College Cambridge 1945–1982'' (Cambridge, 1989) page 261. 15 September 1944) is a British ar ...

), and then ''The Garden: A Celebration of a Thousand Years of British Gardening'' (organised by Harris).

References

External links

Save Britain’s Heritage 1975-2005: 30 Years of Campaigning
from the V&A {{coord, 51.496302, -0.172078, type:event_region:GB, display=title 1974 in England Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibitions in the United Kingdom Architecture festivals

See also

References

Further reading

External links