The new Civic Trust for Barnsley
Then…
When Nikolaus Pevsner visited Barnsley in the course of researching his mammoth work The Buildings of England he listed about a dozen of our town’s buildings as being 'notable'. The book was published in volumes between 1951 and 1974. Almost all of these buildings were demolished soon afterwards, before the formation of the original Barnsley Civic Trust.
The Trust was active in the 1960s and 1970s and was influential in inspecting and commenting on developments on a small scale. It also made efforts to prevent the demolition of Pitt Street Methodist Chapel, and went as far as a public enquiry to save the removal of the spires from the chapels in Barnsley Cemetery - in both cases sadly unsuccessfully. It was also active in joining with other bodies to form the District of Barnsley Society to promote the image of the town.
Membership gradually fell and the Civic Trust was finally wound up in the early 1980s.
As the one-time chairman of the original Civic Trust I wish the new venture all success. It is certainly making a good start and has a very strong team to carry the enterprise forward.
Stuart Currie
…and Now
Barnsley has changed so much in the past 20 years. Local people think a new Civic Trust is exactly what it needs to represent their interests.
The new Barnsley Civic Trust was born in the autumn of 2006. The Town Centre Communities Partnership, represented by Phyllis Barnes (steering group treasurer) and Cath Wilkinson, helped to get the new Barnsley Civic Trust off the ground by organising the first meeting and arranging start-up funding.
The new Civic Trust’s brief will be much wider than conservation alone; it wants to strengthen and promote the renaissance of the whole town, get more local people behind the regeneration of Barnsley, and involve them in what is going on.
To find out more information and get in touch with the Barnsley Civic Trust see our contact page section.
