Stately web sites open to visitors

THE NATIONAL Trust has put some of its historic monuments andbuildings on the Internet, despite a drop a drop in attendancefigures at some of their historic properties. The new website allowsthe properties to be viewed in three dimensional cyberspace so thatvisitors can "wander" round a virtual view of the building andsurrounding land.

The site contains three properties, two of which - Corfe Castle,and the chalk pillars of Old Harry Rocks, at Handfast Point, - are inDorset. The third, Petworth House, in West Sussex, is a magnificentlate 17th- century mansion and beautiful park, landscaped byCapability Brown and immortalised in Turner's paintings. The housecontains the Trust's finest collection of pictures, with works byTurner, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Blake.

Using a mouse, virtual viewers can explore panoramic scenes andsee the landscape from a 360 degree angle.

The majestic ruins of Corfe Castle, which controlled the gatewayto the Isle of Purbeck and was an important stronghold from the timeof William the Conqueror, can be viewed from a hilltop looking downon the site or from a vantage point nearby. It is also possible to"zoom" in closely and inspect the brickwork of the ruins.

The online move is a gamble for the Trust. Although it admitsthat it is possible the website may be a substitute for visiting thesites in reality, it hopes the internet presence will have theopposite effect, and encourage people actually to go and see thebuildings. "You can never get the full experience of a property fromseeing it on screen, but it is a concern," a National Trust spokesmansaid.

"We have created the site as an educational tool for children whomay need to study certain buildings for history but are not able togo and visit them.

"I hope that we are not a nation of such complete couch potatoesthat people will not be bothered to go and see the real thing."

Each property costs around pounds 1,000 to put on the Internet andthere are plans to add more with ambient sound.

"We won't be putting in birds singing or aeroplanes rushing pastoverhead but perhaps a reading of a poem that was inspired by thesite or a piece of music that was composed nearby," said thespokesman.

Richard Pollard, secretary of the campaign group Save Britain'sHeritage, welcomed the National Trust's online initiative, saying hehoped virtual visitors would be inspired to visit in person."Undoubtedly a number of these properties do suffer from intensivevisiting but I think it is unlikely that the National Trust would tryto reduce the numbers by diverting them to a website," he said.

"First, they are preserving these buildings so the public can seethem - and see them in reality - and second, they would not want tolose the revenue which comes from the souvenir and tea shops."

The National Trust's virtual tours are at: www.nt-education.org/virtualviews/index