A BEAUTIFUL manor house in Herefordshire has been included in a new book by the National Trust, which looks at 60 historic British buildings spanning 900 years.

Brockhampton, around two miles from Bromyard, is a 1,700 acre farmed estate with a 14th century manor house. The National Trust's book, called 60 Remarkable Buildings, dives into the manor's history, focusing on architecture.

According to the National Trust, experts have been able to identify that the hall at the heart of the manor house was likely built as early as 1413, making it the oldest structure on the estate. They made this discovery using dendochronology, which involves tree-ring dating, to uncover the layers of history within the timber frames of the building and find out when each part was built.

While previous books about National Trust properties tended to focus on their historic owners, this new book looks at the buildings themselves, with fascinating information about architectural periods, styles and influences as well as fresh insights into the work of architects.

Dr Elizabeth Green, the book's author, said: "The National Trust was established to protect outdoor spaces when access to green space was limited. The owners experienced soaring death duties and following two world wars the huge loss of workforce saw large numbers of country houses falling into disrepair. As a result, families were forced to sell their art, heirlooms and land."

Popular TV architect George Clarke penned the book's introduction, writing: "I absolutely love the National Trust and that love grew to another level when I decided at the age of 12 to become an architect. It is a fantastic organisation and without the trust we would have lost so much of our heritage. It is vital we do everything we can to support it."

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The National Trust, a charity founded in 1895 to preserve the nation's open spaces, cares for over 10,000 historic buildings, more than 300 of which are public.

Many associate the charity with saving country houses in response to rising taxes in the 1940s and 50s.

Today, the charity continues to look after these sites and remains entirely independent of government. It currently has 5.7 million members and over 44,000 volunteers, and over 2021 and 2022 its properties received 20 million visitors.