A Brief History and Vision for the Future

The above window can be seen in York Minster and is a memorial to Dr John Bowes Morrell and his son Mr William Bowes Morrell

Some readers of this website will have heard about York Conservation Trust but there will be those who may not know us and probably most will not be aware of our aims, objects and history. York Conservation Trust Limited (initially Ings Property Company Limited) was formed in 1945 by Dr John Bowes Morrell and his brother Mr Cuthbert Morrell, both of whom had been buying medieval properties in York for many years, which they restored and rehabilitated, together with Dr Morrell’s son Mr William Bowes Morrell. Their properties were combined under one company - Ings Property Company Limited - without expectation of profit until 1976, when they bequeathed all the properties in the company to the current registered charity, York Conservation Trust Limited.

In order to understand the workings of the Trust, it is probably easiest to review its main objects viz; “to preserve for the benefit of the townspeople of the City of York in the county of North Yorkshire and of the nation at large, whatever of the English historical, architectural and constructional heritage may exist in and around the City of York aforesaid in the form of buildings of particular beauty or historical, architectural or constructional interest”. From its beginnings with 7 properties, the Trust now owns and runs 66 buildings, consisting of 68 residential and 55 commercial lets. Many of the buildings will be well known to residents of and visitors to York, including The Red House, Sir Thomas Herbert’s House, Gert and Henry’s, 4 Jubbergate, Wealden Hall 49 Goodramgate, the Almshouses at Ingram House, the Assembly Rooms, and the recently acquired De Grey Rooms and De Grey House.

Restoration and conservation has to be balanced with the need to put the building to its best use, both from the point of view of its tenants and in the life of the City. The Trust does not, to borrow the commercial jargon, have a mission statement.

The current Directors and Trustees (all related to the founders) are keen to ensure that any property for sale, covered by the above objects, should be acquired by the Trust and, where necessary, returned to its former glory rather than be left to fall into disrepair. We also endeavour, where possible, to ensure that such properties do not leave the ownership of York people who have grown up with those buildings and respect their heritage. All our buildings are maintained to a very high standard and all the work is carried out by local businesses thereby generating further wealth for the City.

With the economy booming and commercial firms expanding, a charity such as ours can offer a more measured and less profit-driven approach. When times are hard, commercial firms are less likely to give the upkeep of ancient buildings high priority but, so long as our rental income covers costs, we need not do the same. An increasing number of buildings in the City, which are unattractive to commercial developers or offer low returns, come on the market. We hope that our established reputation will ensure that we can fill that gap as a safe pair of hands, both for the quality of restoration and for the performance of our stewardship.

Finally a brief mention of another question, which we have often asked ourselves: To what extent should the Trust, by its choice of commercial tenants, seek to influence the direction of life and shopping in the City Centre, albeit in a small way? Where all other factors are equal, we probably tend to favour smaller local businesses and shops, especially if they give diversity to the area. Too many city centres have become boring clones of undistinguished (and undistinguishable) shopping malls or high streets. We believe that York should remain different.

This may all sound very general and obvious but old buildings are by their very nature individuals and the Trust will face future challenges with each new acquisition. Together with the City Fathers, we are determined that no further buildings of architectural or historical importance will be destroyed and lost for the enjoyment of our future generations.

Prior to the production of this website, the Trust commissioned two books of the properties held at those times; one in 1981 and an updated version in 1995. The preface of the original book written by Mr William Bowes Morrell, the father of the current chairman, is reproduced below.

April 2005.

Foreword
by William B. Morrell

This book illustrates the properties which are, or have been, owned by York Conservation Trust Limited; to introduce it I will describe the history of the Trust, and its aims.

In the days before conservation had become as popular as it is today, my father, Doctor John Bowes Morrell, and my uncle, Mr. Cuthbert Morrell, had each been buying medieval properties in York, which they restored and rehabilitated. They believed that such properties were an essential part of the heritage of York which would disappear if past neglect was not arrested and reversed.

The publication of this book is a memorial to our Founders and to their original conception.

All their properties were eventually combined under one company - Ings Property Company limited, the shares in which were held by members of my family, though without any expectation of profit or reward. After the death of my father in 1963 it had always been our intention to convert the Company, or its activities, into a charitable trust, but it was not until 1976 that the name of the Company was changed to York Conservation Trust Limited and it became a registered charity. by becoming a charity, the Company avoided taxation and was therefore left with more cash with which to carry on its activities, but one of the requirements of the Charity Commissioners was that properties could only be sold on long leases, thereby giving the Company some control over their future preservation. From time to time we do sell listed buildings; we are always interested, within our financial means, in any property which is worth preserving for the benefit of the City.

This book has been designed in loose-leaf form in order that it may be updated from time to time to take account of new acquisitions. Attached to each photograph is a brief history of the property, written by Mr. Ronald Willis, the Deputy Features Editor of the Yorkshire Evening Press. He has written a number of books on York and Yorkshire and is a distinguished authority on the history of the City. We are grateful to him for providing these historical notes on the properties, which add so much interest to the book. We have also been fortunate in having the services of Mr. Walter Smith in connection with the design and layout, and we are equally grateful to him.

We have evolved certain principles which guide us in the conservation work which we undertake. The work of restoration is carried out to the highest standards by local craftsmen employed by local builders. When major restoration has to be done we employ local architects with special knowledge to supervise it. At this point I would like to acknowledge the invaluable advice and assistance so generously provided by Miss June Hargreaves, the York Planning Officer, and also by the Historic Buildings Council. We aim to purchase properties in the more derelict, run-down, parts of the City that by example we may persuade others to do likewise, and eventually the area or street may gain conservation status and so qualify for additional grant aid. Wherever possible, we try to follow the advice given by Lord Esher in his excellent study of York. We are interested in groups of houses as well as individual ones which, after restoration, will enhance the appearance of the whole street and improve the streetscape. Wherever possible we aim to restore buildings so that the upper storeys can be lived in, for it is men and not walls that make a City and there is a need to encourage people to live within the City Walls. This policy means that we retain some properties in the best sites in the commercial area of the City, the higher rental income from which enables us, as a charity, to finance purchases in other areas which are not so attractive to strictly commercial developers because of the longer periods of appreciation in rental income. We also need the rising income from such commercial properties to compensate for the lower incomes from the controlled rents of domestic letting.

The maintenance costs of repairs to old buildings is high, and all our profits are ploughed back to provide for this and for the purchase of new properties in run-down areas of the City. We have not created a revolving fund to finance further acquisitions, but in times of inflation, with fluctuating interest rates, the finance from the sale of a property is effectively devalued by the time it comes to be applied to the restoration work on a new property - there is now a time lag of years, rather than months, due to the lengthy process of obtaining the necessary approvals from various authorities.

Since the formation of Ings Property Company Limited we have been well served by our Managers, the late Mr. Frank Cooper and the late Mr. Philip Rowntree. Since the death of Mr. Rowntree in 1977 the Manager has been Mr. Donald Prosser-Higdon, to whom we are much indebted, and Mr. Geoffrey Heselton, the Secretary of the Company, deals admirably with its secretarial and financial affairs.

Members of my family are still actively involved and steps are being taken to provide for the future, so that interested members of the family can continue to participate in the conservation work in York carried out by the Company.

Chairman
YORK CONSERVATION TRUST LIMITED
DECEMBER, 1981
(The foregoing Preface was written by Mr. Morrell a few days before his death on 11th December, 1981).