Hidden Heritage

In this episode of Hidden Heritage, Violet Manners is joined by Jason Lindsay, Chairman of Historic Houses, and Marcus Yorke-Long, Head of the Private Office at Charles Russell Speechlys, for a conversation exploring one central question: who owns our heritage now?
Heritage is often discussed emotionally, romantically even, but rarely strategically. Yet Britain’s historic houses, estates, collections and landscapes sit at the intersection of identity, economics, policy, private capital and global interest.
Together, the conversation examines whether British heritage is fundamentally undervalued as a national asset, why international buyers increasingly recognise value in what Britain itself sometimes overlooks, and what “ownership” really means in 2026. Is heritage something we legally possess, culturally inherit, economically exploit, or simply steward for the next generation?
From overseas investment and custodianship to policy failures, succession pressures and the realities facing modern estate owners, this episode explores the tension between heritage as a living responsibility and heritage as a global commodity.
Far from a nostalgic conversation, this is a clear-eyed discussion about continuity, stewardship, national identity and the future of Britain’s historic landscape.
Because the question is no longer whether the world values British heritage. It is whether Britain values it enough itself.

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Lord Iveagh - Ned Guinness - is custodian of the 22,000-acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk. But inheritance, in his case, is layered.

Elveden was once owned by Maharaja Duleep Singh, redesigned with Mughal splendour, later purchased by the Guinness family, and transformed into Britain’s largest working farm.

In this thoughtful conversation, Ned reflects on:

Growing up with the Guinness name

The legacy of empire and exile at Elveden

Stewardship over sentiment

Farming at scale in modern Britain

Writing his own family history

The future of estates in a changing world

A candid exploration of responsibility, narrative and custodianship.

📖 Ned’s book:Guinness: A Family Succession -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1800753603

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Journalist and author Eleanor Doughty has spent over a decade gaining rare access to Britain’s great estates.

In her Sunday Telegraph column and her book Heirs and Graces, she explores inheritance not as privilege alone - but as duty, burden and identity.

In this episode, Violet and Eleanor discuss:

How Britain’s aristocracy really lives today

The realities behind the Downton fantasy

Trust, discretion and access

Inheritance in the 21st century

Whether the current estate model can survive

An intelligent and clear-eyed conversation about what it truly means to inherit a historic house today.

📖 Eleanor’s book:Heirs and Graces –

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241555494

HX Club -

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Lady Anne Glenconner has lived more lives than most of us could imagine.

Born at Holkham Hall, Maid of Honour at Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret for over three decades, Lady Anne stood at the centre of royal history — and at the creation of Mustique as a legendary private island.

But behind the glamour lies a life shaped equally by resilience: inheritance battles, personal tragedy, a complex marriage, and reinvention as a bestselling author in her late eighties.

In this deeply personal conversation, Lady Anne reflects on:

Growing up at Holkham Hall

Royal service and Princess Margaret beyond the myth

Loss, dignity and survival

Inheritance laws and women’s rights

The future of Britain’s great houses

Candid, witty and unflinching.

📖 Lady Anne’s books:

Lady in Waiting – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QWTZDCG

Manners and Mischief – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FKMWRL1H

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This week on Hidden Heritage, Violet Manners sits down with Patrick Galbraith — writer, journalist and one of the sharpest contemporary voices examining the British countryside.
From birds, deer and gamekeeping to land access, farming and the cultural fabric of rural life, Patrick’s work explores the fault lines shaping modern Britain’s landscapes. Together, we trace his story from the landscapes that first formed him to the people who continue to define countryside life today: farmers, stalkers, ghillies, wildfowlers and land managers whose livelihoods remain deeply tied to the land.
At the heart of this conversation is the government’s recent announcement to ban trail hunting, a decision that has sent shockwaves through many rural communities. Violet and Patrick unpack what this means not only politically, but culturally: for hunts, hounds, land management, jobs, tradition, and the wider sense that many countryside voices feel increasingly unheard in national debates.
The conversation also explores the wider “countryside wars” unfolding across Britain: rewilding, illegal species releases, deer management, collapsing rural industries, food resilience, and whether Britain’s real challenge is not access to nature, but meaningful engagement with it.
This is a conversation about heritage in its truest sense: not nostalgia, but the living relationship between people, place and the skills that shape the land.
A thoughtful, provocative and deeply grounded episode on what rural Britain is becoming — and what may yet be lost.

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Filming & Events in Historic Houses: What It Really Involves

Filming and large-scale events can provide historic houses with vital income and global visibility. Yet behind every beautifully shot scene lies a complex reality of negotiation, risk management and strategic decision-making.

In this episode of Hidden Heritage, Violet is joined by Naomi Nettleton, who advises historic estates on filming and venue agreements, and Charles Lister, House Manager at Boughton House, who brings more than three decades of practical experience managing productions on site.
Together they explore what owners should consider before agreeing to filming, how commercial terms are structured, and how houses can protect their long-term interests while embracing new opportunities. The conversation moves beyond the glamour often associated with film locations to examine the operational pressures, legal frameworks and reputational implications that shape these decisions.

This discussion forms part of Hidden Heritage’s ongoing collaboration with Charles Russell Speechlys, whose Private Client and Heritage teams work closely with estates and families navigating the evolving commercial landscape of historic property.

For further insight into their work with historic houses and heritage assets, listeners can explore

www.charlesrussellspeechlys.com

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In this episode of Violet Manners in Hidden Heritage, Violet is joined by designer, writer and entrepreneur India Hicks - a woman born into history who chose to build her life somewhere entirely her own.

The daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks and the legendary designer David Hicks, India grew up at the intersection of royal history and radical interior design. Her mother stood at the heart of 20th-century royal life. Her father reshaped the visual language of Britain’s great houses.

And yet India chose Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

In this conversation, India reflects on:

Growing up between tradition and reinvention

Who Lady Pamela truly was behind closed doors

The influence of Lord Mountbatten

Her father’s creative audacity

Recording the podcast conversations that brought her mother’s voice to a global audience

Life in the Caribbean beyond the postcard image

Her work with The King’s Trust

Marriage later in life

Reinvention, resilience and legacy

A conversation about identity, inheritance and choosing your own horizon.

📖 India’s books:

India Hicks: Island Style –

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0847841957

India Hicks: Island Life –

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/084784851X

Luxe Tours:

https://www.heritagexplore.com/luxe/

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In this episode of Hidden Heritage, Violet Manners is joined by antiquary, broadcaster and storyteller Steven Moore — a man whose life has been shaped by objects, and the stories they carry.

Known to millions through his appearances on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and Antiques Road Trip, Steven has spent decades uncovering the overlooked — not simply valuable objects, but the human lives embedded within them. From early beginnings staging his own pottery exhibition at sixteen, to becoming one of the most recognisable and trusted voices in cultural history, his journey has been driven by curiosity, instinct, and an enduring belief that the smallest objects often hold the greatest meaning.

In this conversation, Steven reflects on the formative influences that shaped him, from childhood stories shared at his grandmother’s knee to the mentors and discoveries that set him on his path. He speaks about Venice, a city that has captivated him for nearly thirty years, and how its layers of craftsmanship and history have deepened his understanding of storytelling.

We also discuss his deeply personal book, The Stuff of History, a compendium of curious objects and overlooked lives, and why beauty, memory and material culture remain essential to how we understand ourselves.

This is a conversation about attention — about learning to see, to listen, and to recognise the quiet significance of the things that surround us.

Follow Steven Moore on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/stevenmooreantiques/

Discover his book, The Stuff of History:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789294986

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In this episode, Violet Manners is joined by Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and former MP, for a wide-ranging conversation about the role of museums in public life. They discuss how institutions like the V&A are evolving in the 21st century - from addressing colonial legacies to engaging new audience - and the importance of safeguarding heritage through education, storytelling, and civic engagement. Tristram reflects on the power of design to shape society and offers his perspective on the future of Britain's cultural landscape.

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