Chairman's foreword

This report has been commissioned by the Attingham Trust for the Study of Country Houses and Collections. The Trust runs three summer schools, primarily intended for professional curators, architects and scholars. Two of the schools study country houses, while the third studies the royal palaces in and around London. Members of the schools are drawn from all over the world, with the help of generous scholarship provision. In 2002 the Trust celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, and one of the purposes of this report is to mark these fifty years of achievement.

We are very grateful to all the bodies which have contributed financially to the production of this report. These include:

• The Department for Education and Skills
• The Elmley Foundation
• The Ernest Cook Trust
• The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
• The J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust
• The Monument Trust
• The Pilgrim Trust.

We have received help from a great variety of organisations and individuals, and we would like particularly to thank the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the numerous spirited and knowledgeable members of the Advisory Committee and the very many people within the National Trusts, English Heritage and a host of other organisations, who have discussed particular or general issues with us.
I am grateful to Giles Waterfield who originated the idea for this report and has been the driving force behind it, and to the Council Members of the Attingham Trust who have given it their whole-hearted support and made its completion possible.

John Lewis OBE
Chairman, The Attingham Trust