We believe old buildings are more than just bricks, wood and mortar. They are often a source of pride and identity to their local communities. If sensitively conserved, restored, and repurposed, they can bring a host of social, economic and cultural benefits.
Bill Hayton
Trustee
We are committed to community-led preservation and regeneration of buildings across North East Essex.
North Essex Heritage is a building preservation trust (Colchester & North East Essex Building Preservation Trust) which is working on some brilliant, challenging, and unique projects. You may know about some of our work, but much of what we do is behind the scenes as we collaborate with partners to bring about positive change. We work with other charities, local authorities, commercial supporters, heritage and building experts and funding organisations.
Founded in 1995, when Anthony and Ann Bartleet from Great Tey decided to establish a charity to support heritage, the Trust’s purpose is to preserve local buildings of beauty or historical architectural or constructional interest.
Our initial purpose was to acquire historic buildings which were “at risk”, restoring and selling them and using the proceeds to acquire more buildings. We now have a much wider brief, and fund research, produce viability appraisals, campaign to conserve our built heritage and raise funding for major projects.
The Trust acts as a focus to encourage and assist all those who are interested in conserving Colchester’s rich built history by:
Please visit our Charity Commission overview for more on our charitable status.
Simon Hall MBE DL, Lawyer
Ann Bartleet MBE DL, Founder Trustee
Andrew Crayston, Surveyor and Estate Agent
Chris Betts, Architect and Design Consultant
Paul Bowman, Architect and Design Consultant
Bill Hayton, Journalist and Author
Andrew Marsden, Lawyer
David Balcombe, Design, Heritage and Planning Expert
Simon East, Corporate and Governance Administrator
Leila Kleineidam, Policy Advisor
Gary Armstrong, Banker
Irene Kettle, Communications, Media Relations and PR
Andrew Crayston
Trustee
Currently our main project is the preservation and renaissance of the Balkerne Water Tower, affectionally know as Jumbo. This Victorian masterpiece in Colchester has been on the Buildings at Risk register for many years and is Grade II* listed. As such, it is one of the top 6% of the most important heritage assets in the country.
Jumbo dominates the city skyline and is a much-loved iconic structure. Its history and heritage value are exceptional and having been empty for 40 years, an urgent solution needs to be found. North Essex Heritage has secured a 150-year lease of Jumbo and has exciting plans, working with some of the best design and other consultants in the country. For The Jumbo Project we are supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Towns Deal Fund.
We are actively developing new opportunities to broaden our profile, in particular by supporting others with conservation projects by offering assistance to local groups who are looking to undertake Community Right to Bid/Community Asset Transfer process, or working with developers to assist regeneration with valued historic buildings at its heart.
North Essex Heritage is the operating name of Colchester & North East Essex Building Preservation Trust (CNEEBPT), a company limited by guarantee (3020005), and is a registered charity (1044514).