National Trust treasures in the West Midlands and Mid Wales are being opened up for the public to enjoy like never before
Libraries at two popular National Trust buildings in our region are to be opened up for public use as part of an expansion of activities by the charity.
It comes as the National Trust announced it has received a record-breaking £10 million donation, as it sets out plans for 2026.
It says it intends to give people a chance to use extensive and historic libraries that it has within in Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton and Powis Castle in Mid Wales.
The charity says it will allow people to access some of the books it has and they will be able to stay in the library to read.
Wightwick Manor is the former home of Geoffrey Mander, a local paint manufacturer and Liberal MP, who persuaded the National Trust to accept a house for the nation that was just 50 years old. He had inherited Wightwick in 1900, a house designed in an ‘Old English’ style by Midlands architect Edward Ould and built for his parents, Theodore and Flora Mander, between 1887–1893.
It has an extensive library, which was visited by the then Prince Charles and Camilla in 2014. The building also has one of the largest public collections of work by female artists in Britain amid William Morris interiors.
Powis Castle was built in the 13th century as a medieval fortress and today reflects the changing ambitions and visions of the Herbert family, who occupied the castle from the 1570s. It is home to the Clive Museum of South and East Asian artefacts and has a beautiful wood panelled library.
