News...

Old Town Hall Opening On Heritage Open Days... 18 October 2010 The 'Old Town Hall' will be open on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 September from 2pm to 4pm, as part of the Heritage Open Days, booking is not necessary.

Can We Have Our Hall Back Mister?... Designed in 1837 by the celebrated architect Edward Blore and given to the then UDC of Warminster in 1904 by the Marquis of Bath, this delightful landmark building has suffered a miserable history since the County Council sold it in the 1970s. Whilst there were no written covenants on the Marquis' gift, his intentions were clear in his speech, that it be held "...as a trust for the benefit of the inhabitants of Warminster." (Longleat House Archives, Warminster 1297). We're not sure how we benefited from its later sale at a knock-down price. The only inhabitants benefiting from it now are pigeons. It's last owner was declared bankrupt a couple of years ago and it has remained empty since. The forces of nature are taking over, so, as there is no sign of a commercial 'white knight' developer , the Civic Trust is launching a public subscription campaign to acquire the Old Town Hall for public use. Our sister organisation the Warminster Preservation Trust, commissioned an excellent study by Niall Phillips Architects of Bath in 1995, a PDF of which is available here: Old Town Hall Report and Old Town Hall Plans

Newsletter... For the benefit of members without access to the internet a quarterly newsletter is distributed by post, it can also be downloaded from here.

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About Warminster Civic Trust...

Warminster Civic Trust is a Registered Charity (No. 265408), established in 1972 to promote high standards of architecture and civic planning within the town and its hinterland. We pursue this aim by fostering debate at our Open Meetings and in the Media; by exercising our right as 'Statutory Consultee' to comment on planning applications affecting the town centre; by commending, in the Media, good design and stewardship wherever we see it; and by assisting the town and county councils in discharging their statutory duties of care towards the town's highways, open spaces and public services. We work in partnership with the Town Council, the Warminster and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce, the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership and the many other amenity societies representing the town. We are also the 'parent' organisation for the Warminster Preservation Trust, a separate Registered Charity in its' own right. Warminster Civic Trust is affiliated to the national organisation Civic Voice.

Background. The first Civic Trust was established in 1957 in response to widespread concern about the destruction of historic town centres during extensive post-war redevelopments. The statutory protection afforded by the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings) Act 1947 was deemed by many to be inadequate, as the 'List' being compiled by the Secretary of State (or at least his underlings) was filling up with grand country houses and the architectural gems of known architects in Bath, Cheltenham and, of course, London. The founders of The Civic Trust believed that statutory protection should also be extended to definable groups of buildings that, perhaps not meeting the rigid criteria of the 'Listed Buildings Act', warranted protection because of the contribution they made en masse to the character of their cities, towns and villages. They were proved right, and in 1967 parliament passed The Civic Amenities Act as a direct result of campaigning by The Civic Trust, which empowered local planning authorities to define Conservation Areas. Buildings above a specified size within a Conservation Area may not be demolished - irrespective of whether they are Listed or not - without the written approval (Conservation Area Consent) of the planning authority. In determining consent, the planning authority is required to consult with certain 'Statutory Consultees', including The Civic Trust or its local affiliated body. Warminster Civic Trust is the appropriate Statutory Consultee for the conservation areas of Warminster and, as a result, has a legal right of representation at all affective planning committees.

About Warminster...

Warminster is a relatively small market town nestling within the chalk downland of south west Wiltshire, half way between Salisbury and Bath. Depending on your interests, it is famous as: the Army's School of Infantry situated, as it is, on the western edge of the Salisbury Plain Training Area; the nearest town (2km) to Longleat; or the only town in the world to be surrounded by three Iron Age (c. 750BC) hillforts. The town centre retains nearly all its 18th and 19th century buildings, in a streetscape that has not changed substantially since the 1880s, especially on Friday night...., but we also have the new buildings and facilities necessary for our thriving industrial and commercial economy. The Town is forward-looking whilst mindful of its heritage, and so is the Civic Trust.
A market town in a changing market... The Town and particularly the commercial core that forms the main Conservation Area, has evolved over centuries (actually millenia) in response to changing economic and social forces. The challenge now facing Warminster, in common with all historic market towns, is to ensure that the historic buildings and townscapes we value for aesthetic reasons can pay their way in the competitive economy of internet shopping and out-of town superstores. Sentiment alone will not do.