Introducing the Octavia Hill Lectures

On the 2nd February the Trust hosted the very first Octavia Hill Lecture, delivered by Neil MacGregor at the Royal Society.

Here's my introduction to the event, and why I think hosting debate is so important at the moment.

You can find out more about the Octavia Hill Lectures here. Neil's lecture will be broadcast by Times Radio on Sunday 5 Feb, then hosted on the National Trust's website.

Good evening all – and a very warm welcome to this special event.

Tonight is the very first Octavia Hill lecture. The start of a series of discussions in which some of our greatest minds will examine the challenges, and opportunities we face - ?when it comes to the common ground we all share.

From places of culture and our shared history, to the future of nature in these wild isles, there’s plenty to discuss.

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I am particularly delighted that Neil MacGregor has agreed to take the first slot. He is one of the most thoughtful and respected minds on our shared past - and how it shapes us today.

He has that rare ability to approach well-known subjects from a completely new and unexpected angle – with the most captivating stories along the way.

Neil once said that his aim at the British Museum was ‘to complicate the question’. Now that’s an unusual mission for a public institution – but in this age of soundbites it’s exactly what’s needed.

More layers, more discussion, more debate. And I hope that’s what the Octavia Hill lectures will do too.

We’re also honoured with an esteemed panel, who will digest and discuss Neil’s lecture afterwards. I’m incredibly grateful to Suzannah, Dan and Sathnam for joining us this evening.

And my thanks to Times Radio for partnering with us. Their recording will mean more people can listen to and engage with the debate. Tonight’s event will be chaired by Times Radio presenter and columnist Aasmah Mir, who will steer us through the event and the recording.

Thanks too to the Royal Society for hosting us in this brilliant space.

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Before I hand over to Aasmah and Neil, I wanted to say a few words about why the Trust has created this platform - and why I think debate is so important today.

It’s worth starting with the name – why the Octavia Hill lecture?

Of the Trust’s three founders – Octavia is by far the most well-known. And for very good reason. Her legacy stretches far and wide: across the fields of social housing, green space, volunteering, and of course conservation.

She not only founded the National Trust, but also pioneered a new model of social housing, helped create the Army Cadets, and campaigned for the protection of many of London’s great parks.

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Octavia’s philosophy and successes were formed by the exchange of ideas around her.

Her letters are full of the lectures, essays and sermons she listened to or read – from Ruskin to F.D. Maurice, spanning from art and aesthetics, to politics and religion. They helped shape her world view and the changes she wanted to make.??

It feels particularly telling that Red Cross Gardens, Octavia’s model housing development, should have at its heart, not a church – but a lecture hall, open for the benefit of the whole community.

As a campaigner, Octavia used the power of her own interventions to shape debates on green space and poverty and housing. Her words had a very long legacy, and are still a great source of inspiration today.

This new lecture series then honours both Octavia’s wide-ranging contribution to the world, but also that exchange of ideas that underpinned her practical achievements.

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One of her biggest legacies of course was the creation of the National Trust. And it’s a great place to start a conversation.

Owned for the benefit of the nation, the places the Trust cares for act as a common. A space that all parts of society can call their own. Nearly everyone I meet has an experience or a view about the Trust and there’s a strength to this. There’s also a challenge, but that is sort of the point.

From the White Cliffs of Dover to the Beatles’ houses, the places in our care can talk to the breadth and complexity of our nation’s history – cultural and natural.

And whether you’re in a walled garden or on a windswept moor – they all face into the big issues of the moment – climate change, identity, the state of nature, art, and our need of beauty.

These are however questions that go well beyond the places we care for, which is where these debates come in.

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The Trust was set up to provide benefit for the whole of the nation. To promote, as well as to preserve

So it’s right then that on top of all the brilliant work we do at the places in our care, we also look at what role we can play outside of them. It’s about promoting the importance of place and the value of nature, beauty and history in all our lives.

We are increasingly doing this in many different ways.

We’re connecting people to nature and beauty through our celebration of blossom. We’re working with other partners to raise our collective voice on the decline of nature.

And we’re sharing the stories from our places to inspire a far wider audience.

For example, earlier you heard the brilliant Emily and Serena – they both took part in our competition to bring music back to 20 Forthlin Road – the birthplace of the Beatles. Telling the story of one of our biggest musical icons, and using it to inspire new talent today.

And this year we’re using the story of Sir Isaac Newton to inspire a new generation of thinkers. He made some of his most pioneering advances while in isolation from the plague at Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire. ?

We’ll be working with our very own lockdown generation, hosting a prize for young creative talent and sharing the story of Newton far beyond this modest farmhouse, beautiful as it is.

This lecture is then part of a bigger programme of work beyond our boundaries. Taking the stories and legacies from our places to a much wider audience, to get more people to care for our natural and cultural heritage that is so integral to our quality of life today. ?

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The Octavia Hill lectures will, in time, cover the full remit of the Trust, considering nature, beauty and history in all their diversity and breadth.

The final question then is why we have chosen to start with history – and why now?

The simple answer is that our view of the past matters to who we are today.

History rubs against the present – it’s there in our traditions, our customs and our institutions. It’s central to how we view ourselves in the world – and to our sense of pride and place, whether that’s our street, our country, something much wider or indeed something more personal.?

And as society changes and evolves, we look to our past for insight. For how things came to be as they are today, and how we fit together as a community. Each generation will ask their own questions of history, adding to our collective understanding.

Recent events have demonstrated just how important that heritage is to our sense of identity – and all the passion and emotion it can provoke.

It would be easy to run from this – or to retreat to a safe space – and trust me, I’ve often been very tempted to do that!

But the lesson I’ve learned time and time again – whether it’s back home in Northern Ireland, or here in the National Trust, is that different perspectives are a fact of life. The solution is to trust people, and to make space to listen and learn.

We have got to be able to come together to debate ideas with respect. We might not always agree – but that’s okay. It’s about listening, and disagreeing well.

Part of the reason we chose to host tonight here at the Royal Society – as well as the lovely link to Isaac Newton - is because this institution is testimony to the power of progress through discussion, through new questions and ideas.

It’s in that spirit then that these lectures are intended. To stimulate discussion about place and some of the biggest issues affecting nature, beauty, and history, at a time when good debate really matters.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening. ?