A NEW not-for-profit organisation is being established to take forward further conservation of the historic Whitecliff Furnace site near Coleford.

The move follows the successful completion of the current phase of work undertaken at Whitecliff Furnace by the Overlooking the Wye scheme.

At a meeting held in Coleford last week conservation professionals, councillors and historians from around the county were unanimous is supporting the proposal for a Building Preservation Trust (BPT) for the area.

The new organisation will be established as a charity with a core of dedicated trustees supported by an advisory membership with wider representation from key partners, such as English Heritage, Gloucestershire County Archaeology, the Forest of Dean Local History Society and other local interest groups, to ensure that the management has a pool of expert advice to rely on.

For many years there has been public concern for two of the most important industrial sites within the area, Whitecliff Furnace and Gunns Mill, near Mitcheldean, and it is hoped that in due course the future of these two sites will be in the hands of a organisation that has conservation as its primary objective and a strategy to deal with the work that is needed to conserve these buildings for the future.

Dean Heritage Museum Trust, the owners of the Whitecliff Furnace site, have agreed in principle to transfer ownership to the new organisation, and over the next few months work will be undertaken to enable this to happen, while development of grant applications will commence immediately for a second phase of funding at Whitecliff, building on the success of the recently completed work.

There are many challenges that face the new BPT, but the team have a proven track record of success and all have strengths from a variety of conservation backgrounds.

Laura Stevens has recently completed interior conservation at the Tower of London and at All Saints Church, Newland.

Jim Chapman is a trustee of the Hartpury Trust with experience of conserving a number of historic buildings and is currently developing the Hartpury Perry Centre.

This group will be joined by additional members to be announced in the very near future. Kate Biggs, who was responsible for successfully managing the conservation work so far undertaken by the Overlooking the Wye scheme will be assisting the project coordinator putting together grant applications.

The work has been funded by Overlooking the Wye through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Forest of Dean Local Action Forum, part of the RDPE programme for England, English Heritage and the Historical Metallurgy Society with thanks to the landowners Dean Heritage Museum Trust.