National Trust for Scotland
conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage
The National Trust for Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, shares and speaks up for Scotland's magnificent heritage".
The trust owns and manages around 130 properties and 76,000 hectares (190,000 acres; 760 km2) of land, including castles, ancient small dwellings, historic sites, gardens, coastline, mountains and countryside. It is similar in function to the National Trust, which covers England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and to other national trusts worldwide.
History
The trust was established in 1931 as the "National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty", following discussions held in the smoking room of Pollok House. The Trust was incorporated on 1 May 1931, with John Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl being elected as its first president, Sir Iain Colqhoun serving as the first chairman. Sir John Stirling Maxwell, owner of Pollok House, was appointed as a vice-president, and provided the trust with its first property, Crookston Castle. Another early acquisition was Glen Coe, which was purchased with assistance from the Scottish Mountaineering Club in 1935.
Following the passage of the National Trust for Scotland Order Confirmation Act 1935 (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw.
The public source identifies “National Trust for Scotland” as conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around National, Trust and Scotland.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q599997. VIAF identifies the subject as 138061311. The Library of Congress control number is n50068233. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931 and 1935.
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This entry incorporates text from “National Trust for Scotland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.