Sherborne's Community View of Heritage Considered?

This is the latest in a series. It began with the economics of Sherborne under the Duttons, went back to the gift of 806, and then asked who has a say in what this landscape becomes. It concluded that the community's view of its own heritage is a real component of significance, not a courtesy.

In this post, I want to examine whether the National Trust have taken into account the community view of the heritage landscape we all live in.

The good news is that I think they have asked us what our opinions are. Here are two examples over recent years.

In 2014, the National Trust here in Sherborne initiated a "Spirit of Place" survey. Residents were invited to answer a series of questions posed by the National Trust relating to their view of heritage matters here.

In 2019, the National Trust agreed to refresh that survey and pose new questions. This time, the survey was coordinated by the Parish Council, who forwarded the results of the survey to the National Trust to consider and respond.

So that's the good news. The National Trust have overtly engaged with the community to seek their opinions on the importance of local heritage and its significance.

But have they listened? It's all very well asking the questions, but if the answers are ignored, then the questions of community input into heritage value remain. Let's look at what conclusions the National Trust drew from those two events.

Firstly, the "Spirit of Place" survey. The National Trust took the responses from the community and, in acknowledging the contributions, summarised what we had said as follows in a 242-word statement.

The Estate is a microcosm of the Cotswolds within which it sits. It is home to a diverse and thriving community with a gentle permeating welcome. There is a feeling of simplicity of life here and of tranquillity, though it is not sleepy and, as through history, has little desire to be static.

This is a place where the buildings provide a vital support to what is currently a somewhat deteriorating natural and built landscape. And it is a place where a tame surface view of grazing livestock masks a life and death underbelly of key wildlife and habitats.

The A40 trunk road forces a jarring incursion right through the heart of this estate and yet beautifully allows many thousands of people travelling every single day a snapshot view of Sherborne - a crucial part of their felt transition into the Cotswolds.

Universally people here feel this could and should be a truly uplifting, living estate and model lowland landscape and it is clear that Sherborne Park Estate showcases in hearts and minds a unique relationship between four main areas: a key and living English Cotswold landscape, a passionate and caring community, a somewhat forgotten wildlife and nature and an evolving history - all of which should typify and enhance the Cotswolds itself.

Theme: A deteriorating natural and built Cotswold landscape: with potential to transform into a resilient habitat for people and nature.

The 2013 Statement of Significance, written twelve months earlier, names the Neolithic long barrow, the model village, the almshouses, Dairy Farm, the grandstand and deer course, the overwintering wigeon, the ospreys, and an eighteenth-century formal landscape of lakes and cascades that it says should be considered especially significant. The only feature named in the Spirit of Place summary is the A40.

As for the 2019 update, a larger number of people responded to questions set by the National Trust. The Parish Council collated the responses to the National Trust's questions, provided all the detail to the National Trust, and requested, not unreasonably, their comment in order for us to understand their perspective on our views. Despite repeated requests from the Parish Council, the National Trust declined to comment. So we don't really know how much they valued or otherwise the responses.

I would note that there seemed to be little or no opportunity for us to comment on the "Big Nature Better Access" plan before it was submitted to the Cotswold District Council. The subsequent agreement to have a working group has not been implemented and has not met. I'd also ask you to consider the National Trust's response to the community objections to their recent planning application that was withdrawn due to procedural reasons. No comment has been offered on the community's objections.

Regrettably, therefore, there is a question mark over whether the National Trust values community input into the heritage value of the landscape we live in. I would, of course, invite them to tell me I'm wrong, in public. I genuinely hope I am wrong.

In my next post, the final in this series, I'll end on a positive note with a proposed win-win solution for all involved. It does ask a lot of the community as well as the National Trust, but if we can achieve these things together, there is a bright future out there. It's imperative we seek these positive ways forward and leave the negative ways behind us all. Heritage is, after all, about the future linking to the past.