The
Windsor and Eton Society, in conjunction with the Windsor District Chamber of
Commerce, has been awarded a Grant of £22,800 from the Local Heritage
Initiative for the restoration and to investigate the history of the
"Heritage Garden" in Church Street, Windsor.
The Garden is situated within the Heritage area of Windsor and in sight of the
Castle. Originally three cottages stood there but after a fire some 200 years
ago the site has become disused, though the fireplaces remain in the
boundary walls and these will be restored by local volunteers to provide an
historic focal point once the project is completed.
In the year 2000, as its Jubilee activity, the Windsor
District Chamber of Commerce set up an action group for research and restoration
of the Garden and the then Chairman of the Windsor and Eton Society, Gordon
Franklin, committed the support of the Society for this imaginative and exciting
project.
Since then we have been working together to raise funds and find a way forward
to make the Garden accessible and enjoyable for the whole community.
The work is being carried out in partnership with the Royal Borough of Windsor
and Maidenhead and the Berkshire College of Agriculture.
Local Schools have been approached for students to propose features
which might be considered for inclusion in this open air Garden.
The Local Heritage Initiative, devised and run by the Countryside Agency, is a
national grant scheme that helps groups to investigate, explain and care for
their local landscape, landmarks, traditions and culture. Grants are
funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In 2002, the Society celebrated The Queen's Golden
Jubilee with the following projects:
Members subscribed for 50 trees which have been
planted on sites in Windsor and Old Windsor. A bound list of the subscribers
to the trees for The Queen was handed to the Private Secretary to Her Majesty
at the Annual Dinner of the Society held in April.
We have been actively involved in Facelift 2002 when
over half the buildings targeted in central Windsor were renovated. This was
an excellent example of the Society helping the Royal Borough.
The Town Pump on the Datchet Road has been repainted
The Society continues to press for a Park and Ride by
Rail system that will initially keep coaches out of the town and be available
for cars
Members of our Executive Committee have four meetings
a year with the Director of Planning and the Environment and other senior
officers of the Royal Borough, a new innovation which began in 2000.
We have given our thoughts on three large
developments:
Convent of St John The Baptist, Hatch Lane
Trevelyan School
East Berkshire College's plan to build a new campus,
which was recently turned down by the Council