The Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust (founded in 1967, sometimes abbreviated WHBT) is a charitable organisation which works to preserve the

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, in the West of England.

History

The Trust was formed in 1967, its purpose being "to preserve property and buildings of architectural and historical interest in the county for the benefit of the nation". It is both a registered charity and a

company limited by guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...

. The money employed by the Trust originated in a single grant made at the time of its foundation by the former

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county. As a result of the 2009 restructur ...

, funding which has been described by the Trust's President Lord Lansdowne as "a revolving capital sum". Since 1967, the Trust has been instrumental in a number of projects for the restoration and conversion of historic buildings large and small. At the end of a project, the restored building is sold, so that the Trust can recover the money laid out and look for a new project. The restoration projects of the charity have included the following buildings: Barton Farm,

Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

(sold 1975); Number 23,

South Wraxall South Wraxall is a village and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, north of Bradford on Avon. The village is to the east of the B3109 road from Bradford on Avon to Corsham. The parish includes the village of Lower Wraxall, to the south of Sou ...

(sold 1982); Wilton Windmill, near Marborough (completed 1976); Number 3, High Street, Marlborough; Numbers 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 21, 23 and 25, Church Street,

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs h ...

(1987–1992); The Well House,

Derry Hill Derry Hill is a village in the English county of Wiltshire, in the civil parish of Calne Without. It has an elevated position at the northern edge of the Bowood House estate, about south-east of the centre of the town of Chippenham. Geography De ...

(2002–2003); The Ostler's House, at the Hare and Hounds

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, Pickwick (2003–2004); The Apple Store, Rowdeford School (2006);Johns, ''op. cit.'', p. 30 and The Granary, Manor Farm,

Yatesbury Yatesbury is a village in Wiltshire, England. It is next to Cherhill, north of the A4 road (England), A4 road between Calne and Marlborough, Wiltshire, Marlborough. Yatesbury was an ancient parish and in the 19th century became a Civil parishe ...

(2006–2007). Given its planned nature as a revolving fund, the

articles of association In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where it exists) form the company's constituti ...

of the Trust prevent it from making grants to private owners of historic buildings, but it has sometimes made contributions to special projects around Wiltshire promoted by others. A loan was made to the Merchant's House Trust in Marlborough to enable it to buy the

burgage plot Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or " burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenemen ...

associated with the Merchant's House. Grants have included one to the Warminster Buildings Preservation Trust for a town centre project, another to the Friends of

Lydiard Park Lydiard Park is a country park at Lydiard Tregoze, which was its former name, about west of central Swindon, Wiltshire, England, near Junction 16 of the M4 motorway. The park, which is included on the Historic England Register of Historic Par ...

to help with the restoration of an ice house in the grounds of that

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

(a project completed in 2007), and a contribution was made to the

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

Appeal. The Trust is a member of the Association of Preservation Trusts.

Devizes Assize Courts

A view across Northgate Street, Devizes - geograph

After becoming redundant in the 1980s, the

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

former

assize court The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

building – built in 1835, in Grecian style using

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

to designs of T. H. Wyatt – stood unused. The Trust assisted Kennet District Council with a study in 2006–7, and in 2018 supported the establishment of Devizes Assize Court Trust, a charity which bought the building and aims to restore it to provide a new home for

Wiltshire Museum The Wiltshire Museum, formerly known as Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Devizes Museum, is a museum, archive and library and art gallery in Devizes, Wiltshire, England. The museum was established and is run by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natu ...

Personnel

Presidents

*1967–1975:

John Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale John Granville Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale, TD, DL (16 December 1906 – 25 May 1996) was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician. An MP from 1942 to 1965, he notably served as Chairman of the 1922 Committee between 1955 an ...

Johns, ''op. cit.'', Appendix 1 *1975–1994: The Countess of Radnor OBE DL *1994 to date: 9th Marquess of Lansdowne (as Earl of Shelburne, 1994–1997)

Chairmen

*1967–1976: Sir Geoffrey Tritton, 3rd Bt. *1976–1980: Mrs B. G. Sykes *1980–1986: Dr T. K. Maurice OBE *1986–2016: Mr G. F. McDonic

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

*2017– : Mr John Barnard Bush

Governors

The

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

s are known as 'Governors'. Four are appointed by the

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...

unitary authority, and one by the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England, centred on the urban area and town of Swindon and forming part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. History In 1974 the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire was cre ...

; other new Governors are appointed by the existing Governors of the Trust.Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust Ltd
at swindon.gov.uk

References

*Colin Johns,
Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust 1967–2007
' (2007)

External links

*{{Official website Buildings and structures in Wiltshire Charities based in Wiltshire Heritage organisations in England 1967 establishments in England Building Preservation Trusts