Утраченные поместья Камбрии могли приносить экономике региона £13,5 млн в год

Cumbria’s lost country houses could represent around £13.5 million a year in vanished heritage value, according to new analysis. Family Tree identified at least 15 named historic houses across the county that have been demolished, ruined or otherwise lost as major homes. Using the present-day historic house economy as a benchmark, the family history publisher said the sites could have generated around £13.5m annually in economic activity, including an estimated £9m linked to local spending. The figure is illustrative rather than a formal valuation, and Family Tree acknowledged that not every lost property would necessarily have become a visitor attraction, hotel, wedding venue, filming location or events space. High Head Castle, between Carlisle and Penrith, was highlighted as one of the clearest examples of what has been lost. The fortified manor house was badly damaged by a fire in 1956 and is now roofless, although red sandstone walls remain standing. Family Tree said country houses should not be viewed solely as architectural landmarks or the homes of wealthy families, but as workplaces which supported domestic servants, gardeners, cooks, grooms, stable hands, builders, carpenters, estate workers, tenants and local suppliers. The buildings also shaped local roads, farms, trades, housing and community identity, it said. Helen Tovey, editor of Family Tree, said: “High Head Castle is exactly the kind of place that shows why lost country houses still matter. “It was not just a grand home. It was a workplace, a local landmark and part of Cumbria’s story. “Behind houses like High Head Castle were servants, gardeners, cooks, tenant workers, estate staff, local suppliers and families whose lives were tied to those places. “When a house like that is lost or left as a shell, we lose more than architecture. We lose part of the local context that helps people understand where their families worked, lived and belonged.” The Cumbria research forms part of a wider Family Tree project examining Britain’s lost country houses. Country house historian Matthew Beckett estimates that 3,054 country houses have been lost across the UK, with England accounting for more than 2,000 recorded examples. Family Tree based its estimate on figures from Historic Houses, which represents 1,450 independently owned historic houses, castles and gardens across the UK. Historic Houses said its member sites generated £1.3 billion for the UK economy in 2022, supported more than 32,500 full-time equivalent jobs and hosted 26,000 cultural events. That equates to an average contribution of around £897,000 per site a year. Applied to Cumbria’s 15 named lost houses, Family Tree said this would suggest a potential annual value of approximately £13.5m. Mrs Tovey added: “That is why family history is not just names and dates. It is about putting people back into the places, jobs and communities that shaped their lives.”