Cultura Trust’s Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, has visited Hylton Castle in Sunderland, accompanied by the Trust’s President, Lord Beith, and the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, Ms Lucy Winskell. This well-known landmark has been transformed from a gaunt benign shell into an intensively used neighbourhood centre by means of an ingenious insertion of a new building structure within its walls. It has been a long tough journey, but sometimes the long journeys are those which reap the most deeply satisfying of rewards. Cultura’s involvement was to support the local activists through the turbulent formative stages of changing mindsets and policies that this could be done within a scheduled monument, and that it was the right thing to do in the public interest. There are few if any community centres in Britain that compare to it, hence it is a showcase for Cultura’s European partners in the PRO-Heritage project about conservation and sustainability. See for yourself: https://hyltoncastle.org.uk
Image: Cllr Denny Wilson, champion of Hylton Castle, provides an historical explanation to HRH The Duke of Gloucester, with Lord Lieutenant Ms Lucy Winskell and Graham Bell listening attentively.