The First Ten Years - Trust Annual Report 1968
On 24th April, 1968, an Extraordinary General Meeting was called to approve some changes in the Articles of Association of the Winchester Preservation Trust. This was because the Charity Commissioners had indicated that if certain alterations were made to the wording, they would be prepared to award the Trust the status of a Charity. The advantages of this would be that the income which the Trust receives from the house which they own in Canon Street, and the interest on any deposit accounts held at the bank would be free of income tax. It would also be possible for members to covenant their subscriptions for a period of seven years and this would entitle the Trust to reclaim income tax on behalf of members' subscriptions.
In his opening remarks the Chairman pointed out that the meeting could be regarded as a tenth birthday celebration. The Trust was founded on 23rd April, 1958, and it seemed to be a good opportunity to look back and see what the Trust had achieved.
He went on to say that the Trust had been founded in Faith and Hope, but now the time had arrived to add Charity to the other two virtues.
There could be no doubt that the Trust had created a climate of interest in the city, and that it had become a focal point for all those who were concerned about the place where they live and its historic value.
During the ten years the Trust had enabled hundreds of people to attend lectures about Winchester, its historical importance and its beauty. Most of these had been given by Mrs. Carpenter-Turner, a founder member and Vice-Chairman of the Trust. Many of these had been in the form of conducted tours. The importance of this contribution to the work of the Trust could not be overstressed.
The most important single achievement of the Trust had been the saving of St. Peter Chesil Church, which is now the Little Theatre Club of the Winchester Dramatic Society, enabling the Club to increase their membership and extend their activities. Over £10,000 had been raised for the project with the help of grants from sympathetic authorities. Now that a number of trees have been removed on the river bank in gardens adjoining the church, it is possible to see that the restoration is no less important on this side than from the street.
The Trust has opposed demolitions, but alas, not always successfully, but there is no doubt that the Trust's activities in Canon Street have saved this delightful area of the city. A former chairman of the Trust, the late Dr. Sybil Tremellen, had bought on behalf of the Trust, No. 24. This had been put into good order and is now let to the original tenant at a controlled rent. Houses below that point had been saved by private purchasers.
The Trust had added a number of properties in Canon Street and elsewhere to the list of scheduled properties or had them upgraded.
The Trust had consistently opposed the traffic plan, and also the Winchester Gas Storage Bill. It has criticised unsuitable development and has also been able to express the views of its members directly to committees of the City Council.
On the other hand, it has supported the City Council whenever they have been engaged in preservation work such as the restoration of St. Swithun's arch.
If in some degree the faith and hope of the founders had been justified, it was also pertinent to ask 'What of the future?'
The Trust intends to continue the same functions. As committees get larger and planning authorities become more remote, the role of Civic and amenity societies becomes more important.
There are thousands of ordinary, uninteresting towns up and down the country, each with its mass produced stores built from identical materials wherever they may be. Dull and monotonous places they are; but there is only one Winchester. It is unique in its river and water meadows extending right into the heart of the city from St. Cross to the Abbey Gardens. The Cathedral, the College and the old streets are examples of some of the best of their kind. Winchester is, moreover, one of the few cities which can still be approached through unspoiled landscape, without encountering the blight of suburban semi-detached houses which forms the approaches to so many other towns. The inter-war period of development is all hidden in the natural folds of the ground and also by well wooded landscape.
Recent legislation should make the work of Preservation easier, but to the citizens of Winchester the Preservation Trust can give continuous expression of their democratic rights about their concern for the place where they live.
The Resolutions before the meeting were then read out and passed unanimously on a show of hands.
The complete changes to the wording of the Articles of Association are given below.
Winchester Preservation Trust Limited
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING of the Winchester Preservation Trust Limited will be held at Guildhall, Winchester, on Wednesday, the 24th day of April, 1968, at 7.00 p.m. for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, passing the following Resolutions which will be proposed as SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS
- THAT the Memorandum of Association of the Trust be amended by:
- the substitution at the end of clause 3(a) of the words 'charitable institutions' for the words 'national civic or cultural institutions of a non commercial character'.
- the insertion before clause 3(b) of the words 'In furtherance of the foregoing objects but not further or otherwise'.
- THAT the Memorandum of Association of the Trust be further amended by:
- the deletion in clause 3(e) of the words 'Subject to the provisions of Section 14 of the Companies Act 1948' and the substitution of the words 'may be necessary or convenient for the promotion of the objects of the Trust' for the words 'the Trust may think necessary or convenient for the promotion of its objects'.
- the insertion in clause 3(g) of the word 'charitable' before the word 'trusts'.
- the substitution in lines 3 and 16 of the proviso to clause 3 of the words 'Secretary of State for Education and Science' for the words 'Minister of Education'.
- the insertion in the fifth line of clause 7 of the word 'charitable' before the word 'objects'.
Dated this twenty fourth day of April, 1968.