Charles Harpur-Crewe died in 1981, an £8 million tax bill fell on Calke Abbey, and the house went to the nation with everything in it

The Harpur family held Calke in Derbyshire from the 17th century. Their baronetcy ended with Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe in 1924. The last generations were reclusive and kept nearly everything they bought. Charles Jenney, a grandson of the last baronet, inherited in 1949 and took the name Harpur-Crewe. He died in 1981. Capital transfer tax of about £8 million fell due on the estate, and interest ran on it. His younger brother Henry Harpur-Crewe inherited and offered the house, contents and park to the nation in settlement. The National Trust would not take Calke without an endowment for repairs. In Parliament Lord Vaizey reportedly called the contents "junk"^†. A Hansard written answer of March 1984 said the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the National Trust and the Harpur-Crewe trustees had raised about £3 million and £3.5 million more was needed^†. Art UK records a special £4.5 million provision through the National Heritage Memorial Fund to provide the endowment^†. The estate passed to the National Trust in 1985. Henry died in 1991. In 2026 the Trust shows Calke in its unrestored state^†.