Join Now

Terms and Conditions

Our terms

  1. 1.           These terms
    1. 1.1.       What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we supply services and/or products to you, and that relate to the use of our website.  
    1. 1.2.       Why you should read them. Please read these terms carefully before you submit your order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide services and/or products to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.
  2. 2.           Information about us and how to contact us
    1. 2.1.       Who we are. We are Highclere Castle Media Limited (known also as the Friends of Highclere), a company registered in England and Wales with company registration number 133388768 and our address is Estate Office, Highclere Park, Newbury, England  RG20 9RN.   Our registered VAT number is GB 412 0270 59                      ].
    1. 2.2.       How to contact us. You can contact us by writing to us at Estate Office, Highclere Park, Newbury, England  RG20 9RN. 
    1. 2.3.       How we may contact you. If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your order.
    1. 2.4.       "Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.
    1. We offer membership to the Friends of Highclere and may offer related services, activities and/or products (together called our “Services”).  References in these terms to an order will mean the order for membership of the Friends of Highclere, or other of our Services, as relevant.
  3. 3.           Our contract with you
    1. 3.1.       How we will accept your order. Our acceptance of your order will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us[1] .
    1. 3.2.       If we cannot accept your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the relevant Services.  This might be because a product is out of stock, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the Services or for other unexpected reasons that we could not reasonably plan for.
  4. 4.           Membership of the Friends of Highclere
    1. What does membership provide.  As a member, you will have access to parts of the Friends of Highclere website dedicated to members.   You will receive a login to provide you with access to it.  The login will provide access for one user with a user name linked to one email address.   

In addition, you will be entitled to access a programme of events for members, including events and activities online.   You may also have the opportunity to apply to attend other special events or activities (and we will tell you the relevant costs and other terms related to these events or activities), or buy products relating to Highclere Castle. 

As well as being a member when you apply to attend any event or activity (whether online or in person), you must also be a member at the relevant date of the event or activity to be entitled to attend/ participate.  If your membership ends between the date of application/booking to attend and the date of the activity or event, your attendance or participation will be cancelled.

Information about any other opportunities available to members will be made available to you via the website or by email. 

  • Your use of membership of the Friends of Highclere.   You agree that you will keep your user name and/or password confidential and will not share this information with any third party. You must only register one email address. We may terminate or restrict your use of our Services if you violate these terms of use or are engaged in illegal or fraudulent use of any of our Services.
    • Who can subscribe for membership.    You must be 18 or older and legally be able to enter into a contract with us.   By asking to subscribe for membership, you confirm that you have given us accurate registration details, including payment information.  It is your responsibility to make sure that we always have up to date contact information for you.
    • When does the membership of the Friends of Highclere start.  By purchasing membership, you agree that the membership subscription will start immediately upon payment.  Because it is an instant access service, you shall not have a right to terminate within 14 days of purchase.     
    • How long does the membership subscription last?  The date on which your membership starts will be confirmed to you by email.    The minimum membership subscription term will be 12 months.  Any membership renewal will also be for 12 months.    If you do not wish to renew your subscription, you will need to tell us by emailing friends@highclerecastle.co.uk  not less than 14 days before the renewal date. 

If you do not tell us that you wish your membership subscription to end, it will automatically renew and the cost for the membership for a further 12 month term will be payable by you.  Because you do not have a right to terminate membership during the 12 month term, if you ask us to terminate it, no refund of any part of the membership subscription cost will be payable to you.   

  • What does my membership cost?  The cost of your membership will be made clear to you on our website and confirmed by email to you.  The cost will vary from time to time and so the cost for a renewal may be different.  You agree to pay the cost at the rate notified to you at the time you purchase or renew your membership. 
    • .  By submitting payment details to us, you promise that you are entitled to purchase a subscription using those payment details.  Payment shall be made using Stripe app. 
    • Our right to end membership of the Friends of Highclere, or change it.  We reserve the right to end the Friends of Highclere with 30 days’ notice to you, in which case the provisions of clause 8.2 shall apply.    We may in our discretion change (including remove, suspend or discontinue) any elements of Friends of Highclere membership at any time, including the availability of any particular content.   
    • Our content, trademarks, copyright, logos, domain names and all other related intellectual property rights or other features (including but not limited to anything that relates to Highclere Castle) belong to us. Your membership does not grant you any rights in our intellectual property for any reasons whatsoever, including public performance or non-commercial use.
  • Providing our products
    • 5.1.       Images of products.  The images of products on our website are for illustrative purposes only. Your product may vary slightly, including in relation to packaging, from those images.
    • 5.2.       Delivery costs. The costs of delivery will be as displayed to you on our website.
    • 5.3.       When we will provide the products. We will deliver the goods that you order to you as soon as reasonably possible.  If this is more than 30 days after the day on which we accept your order, we will contact you with an estimated delivery date. 
    • 5.4.       We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of any product is delayed by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this, we will not be liable for any such delays. 
    • 5.5.       Delivery to you at home.  If no one is available at your address to take delivery and the products cannot be posted through your letterbox, a note will normally be left informing you of how to rearrange delivery or collect the products from a local depot.  If after a failed delivery to you, you do not re-arrange delivery or collect them from a delivery depot, the goods may be returned to us. Any further delivery will be subject to additional delivery costs. We will contact you for further instructions. 
    • 5.6.       When you become responsible for the goods. A product will be your responsibility from the time we deliver the product to the address you gave us.
    • When you own goods. You own a product sold by us once we have received payment in full.
  • 6.           Your rights to end the contract for products.
    • 6.1.       You can always end your contract for products (but not membership) with us. Your rights when you end the contract will depend on what you have bought, whether there is anything wrong with it, how we are performing and when you decide to end the contract:
      • 6.1.1.     If what you have bought is faulty or misdescribed you may have a legal right to end the contract (or to get the product replaced or to get some or all of your money back), see clause 9;
      • 6.1.2.     If you want to end the contract because of something we have done or have told you we are going to do, see clause 6.2;
      • 6.1.3.     If you have just changed your mind about the product, see clause 6.3.  You may be able to get a refund by exercising your rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (within 14 days) but this may be subject to deductions and you will have to pay the costs of return of any goods.
    • 6.2.       Ending the contract for products because of something we have done or are going to do. If you are ending a contract for a reason set out in this clause 6.2 the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any products which have not been provided and you may also be entitled to compensation. The reasons are:
      • 6.2.1.     we have told you about an error in the price or description of the product you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed;
      • 6.2.2.     there is a risk that supply of the products may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;
      • 6.2.3.     you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
    • 6.3.       How long do I have to change my mind? For goods, you have 14 days after the day you (or someone you nominate) receives the goods, unless your goods are split into several deliveries over different days. In this case you have until 14 days after the day you (or someone you nominate) receives the last delivery to change your mind about the goods
  • 7.           How to end the contract for products with us (including if you have changed your mind where you have the right to do so)
    • 7.1.       Tell us you want to end the contract. To end the contract with us, please let us know by email at friends@highclerecastle.co.uk Please provide your name, home address, details of the order and, where available, your phone number and email address.
    • 7.2.       Returning products after ending the contract. If you end the contract for any reason after products have been despatched to you or you have received them, you must return them to us. You must post them back to us at Estate Office, Highclere Park, Newbury, England  RG20 9RN . Please email us at friends@highclerecastle.co.uk for a return label. If you are exercising your right to change your mind (and you are enabled to do so) you must send off the goods within 14 days of telling us you wish to end the contract.
    • 7.3.       When we will pay the costs of return. We will pay the costs of return:
      • 7.3.1.     if the products are faulty or misdescribed;
      • 7.3.2.     if you are ending the contract because we have told you of an error in pricing or description, a delay in delivery due to events outside our control or because you have a legal right to do so as a result of something we have done wrong; or
      • 7.3.3.     if you are exercising your right to change your mind (where you have that right).

In all other circumstances you must pay the costs of return.

  • 7.4.       How we will refund you. Where you are entitled to return the products, we will refund you the price you paid for the products (including where relevant the delivery costs), by the method you used for payment. However, we may make deductions from the price, as follows: 
    • 7.4.1.     We may reduce your refund of the price (excluding delivery costs) to reflect any reduction in the value of the goods, if this has been caused by your handling them in a way which would not be permitted in a shop. If we refund you the price paid before we are able to inspect the goods and later discover you have handled them in an unacceptable way, you must pay us an appropriate amount.
    • 7.4.2.     The maximum refund for delivery costs will be the costs of delivery by the least expensive delivery method we offer. For example, if we offer delivery of a product within 3-5 days at one cost but you choose to have the product delivered within 24 hours at a higher cost, then we will only refund what you would have paid for the cheaper delivery option.
    • 7.5.       When your refund will be made. We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible. If you are legitimately exercising your right to change your mind then your refund will be made within 14 days from the day on which we receive the product back from you or, if earlier, the day on which you provide us with evidence that you have sent the product back to us. For information about how to return a product to us, see clause 7.2.
  • 8.           Our rights to end the contract
    • 8.1.       We may end the contract if you do not make any payment to us when it is due.
  • 9.           If there is a problem with membership or any product
    • 9.1.       How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about membership or any product, please contact us. You can email us at [                      ]. 
    • Your legal rights. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights in respect of purchases.
  • 10.        Price and payment
    • 10.1.    Where to find the price for membership and any other Services.  The price of membership and/or for any other Services (which shall include applicable VAT) will be the price indicated on our website and/or at checkout when you placed your order. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the price advised to you is correct. However, please see clause 10.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of what you ordered.
    • 10.2.    What happens if we got the price wrong. It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the Services we offer may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting an order so that, where the product's correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the product's correct price at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order. If we accept and process your order where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract, refund you any sums you have paid and require the return of any goods provided to you.
    • 10.3.    When you must pay and how you must pay. For membership, payment will be made using the Stripe app, as set out in clause 4.7 above.   For products, the payment methods that we accept will be identified at the point of checkout for any transaction.  We will normally take payment at the point of your order. 
    • 10.4.    We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate of HSBC Bank plc  from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
  • 11.        Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
    • 11.1.    We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen. 
    • 11.2.    We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the products including the right to receive products which are: as described and match information we provided to you; of satisfactory quality; fit for their particular purpose; supplied with reasonable skill and care; and for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
    • In relation to the viewing of virtual tours provided as part of membership, it is essential that you are safely seated before beginning to watch these tours and it is your responsibility to make sure that this is the case.  We cannot accept liability for any personal injury that occurs as a result of you failing to take responsibility for this essential step. 
    • 11.4.    We are not liable for business losses. Membership if only for the personal, private use of the individual subscribing for membership.  For our other Services, these are only provided for domestic and private use.  If you use the products or any element of the membership for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
  • 12.        Data Protection and how we may use your personal information.   Any personal data provided to or used by us in relation to your use of our website, any purchase of membership or other Services will be used in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy legislation and our privacy policy.  The privacy policy can be found at https://friendsofhighclere.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy.   
  • 13.        Website terms of use.
    • You shall not conduct, allow or permit any text or data mining or web scraping in relation to our website or any services provided via, or in relation to, our website. This includes using (or permitting, authorising or attempting the use of):
      • Any "robot", "bot", "spider", "scraper" or other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, code, process or methodology to access, obtain, copy, monitor or republish any portion of the site or any data, content, information or services accessed via the same.
      • Any automated analytical technique aimed at analysing text and data in digital form to generate information which includes but is not limited to patterns, trends and correlations.

The provisions in this clause should be treated as an express reservation of our rights in this regard, including for the purposes of Article 4(3) of Digital Copyright Directive ((EU) 2019/790).

  1. This clause 13 shall not apply insofar as (but only to the extent that) we are unable to exclude or limit text or data mining or web scraping activity by contract under the laws which are applicable to us.
    1. We are not responsible for websites we link to.  Where our website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them.  We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.
    1. We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them.  We do not guarantee that our site will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.  You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our site. You should use your own virus protection software.
    1. You must not misuse our site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our site, the server on which our site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our site. You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site will cease immediately.
    1. Rules about linking to our site.  You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.  You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.

You must not establish a link to our site in any website that is not owned by you.  Our site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our site other than the home page.

We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.

  1. If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our site other than that set out above, please contact friends@highclerecastle.co.uk
  2. Other important terms
    1. 14.1.    We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation.
    1. 14.2.    You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing.
    1. Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
    1. 14.4.    If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
    1. 14.5.    Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the products, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.
    1. 14.6.    Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and we agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts, or if you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.

Private Members Access to Highclere Castle