A Queer Inheritance by Michael Hall review the National Trust's LGBTQ history revealed

"The National Trust was established in 1895, the year Oscar Wilde stood trial for gross indecency. Hall recreates the suffocating, hypocritical atmosphere of late 19th-century England; of London, in particular. But did hard-pressed queer Victorians create the National Trust? Not exactly. It's true that one of its founders, Octavia Hill, lived with a woman."

"They include Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, partners in a lavender marriage, who created the gardens at Sissinghurst, appropriately enough. Others introduced features to the estates that continue to delight trippers to this day, leaving their lustre to properties that were later taken over by the trust."

Michael Hall's research explores the hidden history of LGBTQ+ figures who contributed to the National Trust and its properties. While the organization was established in 1895 during Oscar Wilde's trial, its founders weren't primarily queer activists. However, many significant contributors were queer, including Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, who created Sissinghurst's gardens, and E.M. Forster. Hall recreates the suffocating atmosphere of late Victorian England while documenting how these figures left lasting marks on estates now visited by millions. The book reveals that despite the Trust's recent vegan scone controversy, its history is intertwined with queer cultural contributions often unrecognized by visitors.

Read at www.theguardian.com