There has been a lively debate in the media recently about the best way to “preserve” our built heritage. There are those – notably Sir Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust – who believe our buildings and historic environment should be alive and lived in (fires in the grate, prams in the doorway), and interpreted for all generations. And there are those – notably Stephen Bayley, journalist and design critic – who believe that the experience of great architecture does not need to be “enhanced by dirty tricks from a theme park”, and berate this as “Disneyfication”.
My loyalties are divided. Simon Jenkins’ book “England’s Thousand Best Houses” places Knebworth House in the top 50 “best” houses in the country and one of only two four-star houses in Herts (the other being Hatfield House, and there being no five-stars houses in this county). On the other hand, I literally owe my place at university, back in 1980, to Stephen Bayley, who felt that despite inadequate grades I was a suitable inductee into his pioneering History of Art department at Kent!
In this current debate, however, I am clear whose side I am on. “Preserving” Knebworth House is not pickling it; not putting it in aspic and putting it in a jar. “Preserving” is for monuments, mausoleums… The story of Knebworth House is a living story. The nineteen generations of social history we interpret for thousands of visitors and schoolchildren every year is still being written. As an active part of our community, we adapt to our times and do our best to evolve in step with modern life. In our education programmes, leisure facilities and house & park events – even the way we live in, and present, the house – we are looking to interact with as many different age groups and different interests as possible. This keeps our story relevant. This is our best chance of survival. This is sustaining – a much better word than “preserving” – the heritage of Knebworth House.
Martha joins with me in wishing all our neighbours a very happy Christmas,
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com