Volunteering for Cowdray Heritage Trust by Lynsey Ellis, Compliance Officer

I am a Trustee on the Cowdray Heritage Trust Board, and we are responsible for the preservation of and community access to this wonderful local landmark – Cowdray Ruins in Midhurst, West Sussex.  This is both a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building and is one of England’s most important early Tudor houses which is known to have been visited by both King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I.  As you can imagine, conservation and restoration comes at a high price and hence it’s imperative we seek assistance via fundraising and applications for accessible grants.  On 7 October 2022, using my part of my volunteer time Target Professional Services afford their employees, and hard hats at the ready! I attended an advisory meeting with Historic England and our appointed architects in the very early preparation of our application for a Lottery Heritage Fund Grant.  We desperately need funds to carry out maintenance works on this magnificent ruin in order to be able to re-open to the public and we have been looking at a variety of options of how we can also become semi-sustainable.  Following a recent feasibility study, the Board has landed on a potential option of building a new building to the south side of the ruin which could be used for all manner of small events and would also allow a first floor viewpoint over the ruin.  This is a really ambitious proposition and our first hurdle is to get the approval from Historic England that such a new building would be an acceptable option in principle before we take any further steps.  We await their consideration following our meeting and are hopeful to receive a favourable response.  This is a very small step in a very long application process for funding, but we remain positive. The Cowdray Ruins are currently closed for general visits however, if you would like to visit and support us, please check out our Heritage Events and guided tours for the latest information and events taking place. You can also take a lovely walk around the outskirts of the ruins where you can still take in its splendour!