Registered Charity No: 1184545

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A Charitable Incorporated Organisation

 

In 2018 the Titchfield Village Trust will be celebrating 50 years as an organisation that has contributed much to making life within, and around our village, a pleasant place to live and visit. It has helped ensure that Titchfield can have a confident future, as well as celebrate a very long and well-preserved past.  The aim of the Trust is not to keep our village in a time warp, but to make sure that any development adds to, rather than takes away from, the village landscape and sits comfortably within the existing buildings.

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Brief History of some achievements by the Trust:

The Trust was formed in 1968 to assist towards the preservation, protection, development and improvement of our village’s features of historic or public interest.  In 1969 the centre of the village was designated a conservation area. Since then we hope we have lived up to looking after what people have come to expect from visiting such areas.

We also act as a co-ordinating body and facilitator with local authorities and other statutory groups, voluntary organisations and charities.

In 1968, the Trust tried to save the Old Market Hall, which was built in 1612.  It had been moved from the square in about 1810 to the rear of the Queens Head. Unfortunately, the huge cost to restore the derelict shell prevented this from happening. However, the Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton came to the rescue, where the refurbished Hall can now be viewed in all its glory.

In 1987 and 1988, the Trust provided funds and support for the village to enter the Hampshire Best Kept Village competition and won it on both occasions. The plaques to commemorate our success can be seen on the front of the Parish Rooms. The Trust also purchased a clock which was presented to the village and is situated on the house next to the Evangelical Church.

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More Recently:

In 2011, it was discovered that the War Memorial, in front of the Parish Rooms, was in need of repair. The Trust was able to donate £1,000 towards the cost of restoring this Grade 2 listed Monument.

2012, the owners of the land to the north side of the A27, which included the Tithe Barn and fishing lakes, approached the Trust about becoming stake holders for the long term upkeep of the Barn, which had been sold to the Titchfield Festival Theatre under leasehold. The owners wished to develop the land, and after many meetings the Trust supported the application to develop an 86 unit retirement village in exchange for the remainder of the land being used as a Country Park.

We continue to be involved in the Country Park development.

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Last year, Foreman Homes proposed development of some 150 homes on land off Posbrook Lane.  The Trust was heavily involved in the objecting to this, and attended the planning application meeting on behalf of the residents of Titchfield.  The objections raised by the Trust, along with over 260 written objections from residents, meant that an almost unanimous decision was made to refuse the application.

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The Trust will always put forward objections when inappropriate development is proposed. We have been doing this for 50 years now, and will continue in the same vein for the next 50, hopefully, looking out for ALL members of this very special village.

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Traffic has always been, and no doubt will continue to be, of concern to the Trust. Various traffic calming measures have been put forward, and acted upon, by the Trust, not least of all in helping to get a by-pass to the east of Titchfield in the 1970’s, thus considerably reducing the amount of traffic that comes through the village. Further measures are currently being investigated and hopefully some, if not all, will be implemented in an effort to help preserve our ancient village and reduce pollution.

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A few of the current projects:

In 1929, the A27 was built cutting a swathe between the village and the open spaces to the north of the road, the Titchfield Abbey Conservation Area. Crossing the A27 is a challenge at the best of times, and the Trust put forward proposals to build a pedestrian/cycle bridge to link the village with the new country park, a project the Trust had a major part in helping come to fruition. After site meetings with HCC a costing of some £2 million was arrived at. This was a little beyond our means but as a consequence a crossing point with a central carriageway refuge has been incorporated in the new dual carriageway making access to the new park somewhat easier.

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Early in November last year, one of the Village Trust members contacted us concerned about the air quality in the village. As a result of some research, the Trust contacted Environmental Health for this area. It is not expected the air quality in and around Titchfield will exceed permitted EU levels, but  two diffusion tubes to monitor the air quality for the village have been installed. These have been in place since December, and are currently gathering information.

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The Trust recently set up a small grants scheme. These grants are to help kick start projects in the village that will benefit the community.  The grants can be applied for by organisations within Titchfield.  Normally a ceiling of £200 will be applied, but in certain circumstances this may be increased.

You can apply for the grants by emailing the Trust at: 

TitchfieldVillageTrust@outlook.com 

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To keep updated on “What we are doing”, visit the Trust website, to see our latest news, minutes of meetings, picture gallery, and a section where you can “Have your Say” about anything that you think the Trust should be made aware of.

www.titchfieldvillagetrust.com

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We also have noticeboards beside the village green should you not have access to the internet.

The Trust has commissioned a Village Walk leaflet, which was updated by the History Society in 2014.  This gives you a potted history as you walk around the village, taking in the square, history of the various streets, the canal, and not forgetting our beautiful and historic St. Peter’s church.  Purchase of hand held copies of the village walk are available every Friday at the Country Market held in the Parish Rooms in the village (next to the Queens Head pub) from 9.30am – 11.30am, the cost is £1.00.

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Further information on the history of Titchfield Village is available from the Titchfield History Society.

All are welcome to our General Meetings held in the Parish Rooms 3 times a year.  If you wish to, you can join the Titchfield Village Trust on arrival at the meetings, it is only £5.00 for a whole year of membership, which is excellent value considering the work the Trust does for the village, and which would be difficult to achieve without residents becoming Members of the Titchfield Village Trust.

Should you be unable to attend any of the meetings, but still wish to join the Trust, you can always contact our membership secretary via the web site or email address.

 

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