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Engine Shed – A Cultural Heritage Centre in Wivenhoe
The Executive Summary from the Business Plan Special opportunity to acquire – the building has been offered to Wivenhoe as community building on a 999 year lease and for a peppercorn sum. Railway Heritage Trust has assured us of a £100,000 grant towards the project costs. Wivenhoe’s rich past - Wivenhoe has become a pleasant riverside community of 10,000 people with many new houses and a few old ones. Its population has nearly quadrupled since the early 1960s to make it one of the largest communities outside of the immediate urban core of Colchester. There is little to inform people though of its past as a largely industrial community focussed on shipbuilding and other river-based activities. It became well-known in consequence of the railway connecting Wivenhoe with London. Wealthy merchants commissioned yachts from the two Wivenhoe boatyards. Crews from the fishing smacks raced those yachts on the south coast and went to the Mediterranean in the summer. Captain Albert E. Turner from Wivenhoe steered King George’s J Class yacht, Britannia, to many victories with a local crew. Active community – Wivenhoe has developed a reputation for being a lively community with some 80 societies and community organisations. In 1964, the arrival of the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park, between Wivenhoe and Colchester, helped encourage new people into Wivenhoe. The town features many heritage and cultural societies. A Cultural Heritage Centre – This proposal is more than about saving a derelict building from destruction. It can become a significant base for heritage and cultural activity with the capability to ensure Wivenhoe’s rich past can be explored and promoted. By utilising the diverse range of existing societies and promoting the formation of new ones for educational activity, we believe that the area will benefit greatly. How will the building be used? – The building will be managed by an existing charity. Lectures, exhibitions, film, story-telling, local history and genealogy courses, painting, model-making, photography, drama, folk and other music will help promote local heritage through many different channels. The
Engine Shed Project therefore represents a unique opportunity to:
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