Outcry over National Trust plan to fence off acres of Wiltshire park for tenant

Critics say loss of public access to section of Dinton Park goes against charity's core values

For years, the rolling landscape of Dinton Park has been a favourite haunt of dog walkers, runners and seekers of tranquillity. When it snows children sledge down Toboggan Hill, and during the Covid lockdowns it became a place of solace and reflection. There is a beloved view of Salisbury Cathedral's spire, which seems to float above the trees nine miles away.

But a decision by the National Trust to lease out the Neo-Grecian Philipps House at the heart of the estate and, more importantly for lovers of the landscape, fence off a large chunk of the parkland to give the new tenant privacy has caused uproar.