Trust History

Swannington Festival 1982

In 1981 Parish Councillor, Denis Baker, asked the Parish Council what they were going to do to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Robert Stephenson’s 1832 Leicester and Swannington Railway. Their response was to thank him for offering to put a group of people together to plan an event. Little did they realise that Denis with his incredible energy would lead the group into organising a week long Swannington Festival in 1982.

Read about the 1982 Swannington Festival

Swannington Heritage Trust

The Swannington Festival was so successful that the organisers were encouraged to establish a formal heritage organisation and acquire heritage sites within the village. It took a lot of preparation, but in 1984 Swannington Heritage Trust came into being.

The Trust’s aims were to acquire, maintain, and preserve sites of industrial and environmental interest in and around the village for the benefit of present and future generations and to provide facilities for the study and research of the village’s history and archaeology.  The Trusts formation in 1984 allowed it to purchase the site of Swannington Incline Plane, the first of five of the most important of those sites acquired by the Trust.

Legal Status

Swannington Heritage Trust was registered with the Charity Commission on the 20th November 1984, charity number 515809.

Swannington Heritage Trust was incorporated at Companies House on the 23rd October 1984, company number 01858055.

Trust members may attend the annual general meeting and elect the management committee comprising between nine and 15 members. One third of the management committee retire every year and may stand for re-election.