South West Heritage Trust
Plans for an independent SWHT in Somerset have been developed over a year or more. This trust will incorporate and manage all Somerset County Council’s museums and its Record Office. Last month a meeting was held at Great Moor House, Exeter, to discuss the merits of similarly transferring the whole of the Devon Heritage Centre (previously the Devon Record Office and the Westcountry Studies Library) from Devon County Council into this same trust as an integral part of it. This transfer would come with a dowry. This simple explanation intentionally avoids the many issues which seemed confusing and self contradictory in the meeting, especially those dealing with funding and complex ownership of buildings and historic material. Also alarming was the intention to have it up and running by September 1st of this year. We will try to keep abreast of developments in so far as we can.