Category: Warminster Preservation Trust

Information and pictures about Warminster Preservation Trust.

The Chairman Of Warminster Preservation Trust Is Concerned About The Town Centre

Saturday 11th August 2018

Concerns About Warminster Town Centre
In his Chairman’s Report at the Annual General Meeting of the Warminster Preservation Trust, held at Teddington House, Church Street, on Thursday 9th August 2018, Chris March said he had concerns about Warminster town centre. He said he felt uneasy about the plight of two buildings.

Chris stated that the Old Town Hall is still very much in the hearts of Warminster people. “We have been talking about it for years.” Chris said he had the pleasure of a conversation with Sean Reid which took place in Wetherspoons (The Bath Arms), Warminster. Chris said: “It seems Sean became the new owner of the Old Town Hall last August, when he bought it from Peter Caldwell, and there’s a story how Sean came to acquire it which I won’t go into. I like Sean very much. I think he’s an astute businessman and more than that he is prepared to clamber about in the roof of the building. I know that with Sean Reid, and James Beanland (who runs the Boston Shaker cocktail bar and lounge in the basement), that the building is in safe hands, the roof won’t be leaking. Sean must be in his fifties I guess, he’s local and his family own property. They own the Transport Cafe at Nunney Catch. The whole family all live together in one large house behind the Cafe I’m told. It’s interesting. I wished Sean all the best with his ownership of the Old Town Hall. But as much as I enjoyed talking to Sean I couldn’t bring myself to ask him what he intends doing with the Old Town Hall. I didn’t think it was for me to bombard him with questions, on that occasion, as to what he is going to do with the building, but of course that’s what we all want to know – what is he going to do with the Old Town Hall?”

The other building on Chris’s mind was 3 High Street (the eyesore cladded in scaffolding). Chris said it failed to sell at auction last week. According to Chris, the asking price, over £400,000 was too much. But Chris is keen to see the site purchased and developed soon. He referred to the feoffees of the Chapel of St. Lawrence. Chris said: “I know David Pollard, the Chairman of the Feoffees, but it seems some of the feoffees are understandably worried about development of 3 High Street because they fear building work will affect the stability of the chapel. The narrow access is a problem. Some of the feoffees, it seems, will be reluctant to allow work to start without assurances the chapel will not be affected.” Chris went on to say: “But no-one must be allowed to stop development of the site. It has to be developed and the sooner the better. There are several interested parties involved – all have to agree before any work can start. The building is a mess. We want development. We want new housing. We want young people to come and live in the centre of the town.”

Warminster Preservation Trust AGM, 2014

Monday 3rd April 2014

Warminster Preservation Trust Limited.
Company No. 2161087.
Reg. Charity No. 297725.

Minutes of the AGM held at the Civic Centre, Warminster, on Wednesday 3rd April 2014, 7 pm.

Present: E. Collyns (Chair), L. Phillips (Secretary), D. Miller, C. March.

Five members of the public attended.

Minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes of the previous AGM held on Tuesday 14th May 2013, having been previously circulated, were approved by CM, seconded by DM.

Report of the Council of Management. Report and accounts of the Council of Management prepared by R.D. Owen were read aloud by DM. Proposed for acceptance by CM, seconded by DM and signed by LP. The total secured assets were £36,993 as at 30th September 2013.

Auditor. Resolved that Michael Carr be retained as Hon. Treasurer and Accountant. Proposed by CM, seconded by LP.

Matters discussed. The Old Town Hall project was discussed at length at the following Council of Management meeting.

The meeting closed at 7.15 pm.

Warminster Preservation Trust Will Express Their Preference For Purchasing The Old Town Hall Freehold

Warminster Preservation Trust AGM 2013

The Annual General Meeting of the Warminster Preservation Trust was held in the Arn Room at Warminster Civic Centre on Tuesday 14th May 2013, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

Apologies for absence were received from trustee Lucinda Phillips. The other five trustees, namely Chris March, Diana Miller, Ian Walker, Elisabeth Collyns, and Michael Heaton were all present.

The minutes of the previous AGM were circulated and agreed. The accounts for the year past show that the Trust has financial assets of approx £29,000 and further monies bring the total to approx £37,000. There had been very little financial movement since 2011. The accounts were approved.

The trustees were all re-elected en-bloc.

A discussion, with public participation, then followed, with regard the on-going situation of the Old Town Hall in the centre of the Market Place, Warminster. It is the aim of the Warminster Preservation Trust to acquire this building for community use and, in so doing, maintain its appearance in an attractive way, to encourage local people and visitors to take more pride in Warminster as a place for living, working, shopping and doing business. 

At open days held by the Trust, money had been donated by local people towards the cost of purchasing and restoring the building. The majority of this money has since been returned to those who donated.

The Old Town Hall was purchased by Peter Caldwell or his company for £155,000 (privately after an auction failed to meet the reserve). Some work had been carried out, to begin with, cleaning the exterior of the building, at the expense of Mr. Caldwell or his assigns, and the Warminster Preservation Trust has paid for the cleaning of the clock on the north-facing side of the building.

Chris March has consulted with estate agents and was of the opinion that there has been a fall in property values of 20%. He reckoned the Old Town Hall has a current market value of between only £50,000 and £70,000.

Chris March also said it was regretable that the Old Town Hall is constantly seen as an empty eyesore in the centre of the town, with its problem with pigeons, when in the near vicinity progress is being made with other buildings. He mentioned the plans by J.D. Wetherspoon to revamp the Bath Arms, the transformation of the former military supplies stores at the High Street into the Dominos pizza take-away, and that scaffolding was up and around No.3 High Street (stopping it falling down), with a developer about to restore that building.

Chris March went on to say that good initiatives are under way in Warminster, such as Enterprise Warminster, but the Old Town Hall, if left to languish, could blight any hope of encouraging further business and outside investment into Warminster.  

It was noted that Mr. James Beanland, of Warminster, has applied to Wiltshire Council for a licence to sell alcohol and play music, in the basement of the Old Town Hall, using it as a cocktail bar. The basement has been used for this purpose in previous years.

It was also noted that the staircase, which connects the ground floor with the basement floor, has been removed, allegedly contrary to planning regulations (the Old Town Hall is a listed building and permission is needed to make alterations). Unfortunately, it seems the relevant department of Wiltshire Council is apparently showing no sign of investigating this matter or taking any action against the perpetrators.

Warminster Preservation Trust has been negotiating with Mr. Caldwell, to obtain the building, but progress has been annoyingly slow. It seems that buying the building with a tenant leasing the basement could hinder any future plans the Trust may want to consider for other use of the building, and could also prevent Heritage Lottery funding and other grant aid being obtained by the Trust. Funding would be forthcoming if the building was acquired in its entirety and fully freehold.

It was agreed that the Trust will contact Mr. Caldwell, making it known that the Trust’s preference is to purchase all of the Old Town Hall freehold.

The meeting ended at 8.15 p.m. 

Discussing the fate of the Old Town Hall,
left to right: Chris March, Diana Miller,
Ian Walker, Elisabeth Collyns
and Michael Heaton. 

Warminster Preservation Trust’s Renovation Of 7 Vicarage Street Is About To Begin

19 January 1990

Danny Howell writes:

Key To 7 Vicarage Street Handed Over
Warminster Preservation Trust Ltd. are about to save another house in the town from dilapidation. Work will begin on Monday 29th January 1900 on 7 Vicarage Street, the former residence of the Minster School caretaker.

The house, which the Preservation Trust has bought for £50,000 from the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education, was built in the 1840s. It will be renovated ready for private re-sale, with restoration costs and fees amounting to another £40,000.

The renovation will be designed and supervised by the Trust’s architect, Ray Kenzie of the Radley House Partnership in Warminster. It is the second project of this kind; the first one having been the restoration of 8 Vicarage Street which was finished a year ago.

The “house rescue” by the Trust, a subsidiary body of the Warminster Civic Trust and a charitable, non-profit-making association with the sole purpose of preserving old listed buildings is supported by English Heritage.

The project is financed by a grant from English Heritage of over £17,000, no-interest loans of over £7,500 from Civic Trust members, a low-interest loan of over £53,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund, and home-improvement grants of £6,300 from West Wilts District Council. Money is still coming in from Trust members, providing cash flow until the grants arrive.

Warminster Civic Trust members and invited guests will be able to see the house, in its condition before work commences, during a visit at noon on Saturday 27th January.

Canon Roger Sharpe, Chairman of the Governors of the Minster School, handed the key of the house over to Elisabeth Collyns, Chairman of the Warminster Civic Trust, on Thursday 18th January 1990, which was the completion date of the sale of the house to the Trust.

Canon Sharpe says that he is pleased that the investment income on the capital from the sale of the building to the Trust, will be coming back to the Minster School and will be used for such equipment as cannot be provided by the local education authority.