Editorial Policy

Hidden Britain is a weekly newsletter about historic properties and places across the UK. This policy sets out how we select properties, source and verify information, handle images, and correct errors.

Editorial independence

Hidden Britain carries no paid placements, sponsored features, or advertiser relationships. No heritage organisation, property owner, or commercial partner pays to appear in the newsletter. Selection is editorial only.

We have no formal affiliation with the National Trust, English Heritage, Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, the Churches Conservation Trust, Historic Royal Palaces, or Historic Houses. We cover properties managed by these organisations because they form the core of publicly accessible heritage in the UK, not because of any relationship with them.

How we select properties

Properties are chosen for editorial interest: historical significance, architectural character, landscape setting, or lesser-known status. We aim to cover the full range of accessible UK heritage, from major national landmarks to small, overlooked places.

Selection is never based on commercial criteria, audience size, or organisational prominence. A rarely visited farmstead is as valid a subject as a flagship castle.

Where we have visited a property ourselves, that experience informs how we write about it.

Coverage spans England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is not currently in scope.

Research and accuracy

Information about each property is drawn from official sources: statutory registers maintained by Historic England (the National Heritage List for England), Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland, and equivalent bodies; the operating organisations' own published information; and authoritative published accounts where relevant.

Key facts are checked against primary sources before publication. Opening information, access arrangements, and admission charges are verified against the operating organisation's current listings. Because these details can change without notice, readers should confirm them directly before visiting.

We do not claim completeness. Heritage records are extensive and sometimes inconsistent. Where information is uncertain or contested, we say so.

Images

Each edition features an image of the featured property.

Where we hold our own photography of a property, that takes precedence. Where a suitably licensed photograph is available via Wikimedia Commons, it is used as the basis for an editorial illustration in our watercolour style. The source photograph and its author are credited in the newsletter.

Where no suitably licensed photograph exists, we commission an artistic impression in the same style, credited accordingly. These are interpretive illustrations, not records of a property's physical appearance.

We do not use images under Creative Commons Share-Alike licences, images without explicit licence information, or images from heritage organisations' own media libraries without permission.

Corrections

If we publish something inaccurate, we correct it. Corrections appear in the following edition and are noted in the online archive where one exists.

To report an error, contact [email protected] with the edition date, the property name, and the specific claim you believe to be incorrect. We will review and respond.

Published editions are not altered retrospectively without a correction notice.

Complaints

For complaints about editorial content that are not factual corrections, contact [email protected]. We will acknowledge within five working days and respond substantively within 20.

Contact

[email protected]