Ted Heath’s house fails to be lucrative tourist attraction

A charity is set to close Ted Heath’s house after it failed to be a lucrative tourist attraction because the ‘memories of Sir Edward Heath receded into history’.

A charity is set to close Ted Heath’s house after it failed to be a lucrative tourist attraction because the ‘memories of Sir Edward Heath receded into history’.

The former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath left his property in the care of a charity with the intention to open it to the public.

The property in Salisbury, called Arundells, was opened to the public in 2008 and at its peak, some 14,000 visitors came through its doors every year.

This year so far, just 3,600 have seen the home and its surrounding two acres of walled garden where Sir Heath lived from 1985 until his death in 2005.

The trustees of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation have blamed the recession but told the Telegraph that ‘it has always been foreseen that visitor numbers would decline as memories of Sir Edward Heath receded into history’.

Closing to the public today, the foundation decided to sell the house, along with its contents, if the Charity Commission grants approval for the sale.

Valued at £3million when Sir Heath died, the property is expected to be worth a lot more today.

The chairman of the foundation, Lord Armstrong from Ilminster, said it was impossible to meet the annual £150,000 running costs without at least 30,000 visitors per year.

He said: ‘It is a sad decision but it has really been forced upon us by the facts.

‘We have taken professional advice from consultants and we just could never expect to attract the sort of numbers we need.

‘It is a lovely house but it doesn’t lend itself terribly well to visitors because the rooms are quite small.

‘The people who do come say it is a wonderful place, but it is simply not feasible for us to keep it open.’

The charity approached the National Trust in an attempt to keep the house open but were told they would have to pay an endowment of £8million.

Lord Armstrong said: ‘The National Trust’s view was that it is a nice house but not that special.’

The decision to close has saddened the Friends of Arundells group who staff the house and garden with volunteers.

Gerald Gibson, the deputy chairman of the group, said: ‘We are shocked and saddened by the sudden announcement of the closure and proposed sale.

‘Our biggest concern is the sale of the house’s magnificent contents. The one thing visitors tell us is how coming to the house changes their perception of Sir Edward.

‘Many people don’t know that he only took up sailing at 50 yet won the Admiral’s Cup.

‘He was an accomplished concert pianist and one room houses his Steinway grand piano.

‘In the dining room there is a list of the guests he had to dinner – Bob Geldof on one side and Tony Benn on the other. The rooms and their contents tell you so much about the man. If that collection is lost, so is Sir Edward’s history.’

The volunteers will continue looking for avenues for funding and their campaign to preserve Arundells.

Proceeds from the sale will be distributed to charitable causes indicated in Sir Heath’s will including sailing lessons for disadvantaged young people and music scholarships to Balliol, his old Oxford college.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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