Dursley Town Trust

Dursley Town Trust has existed since 1896, its object being to look after the Market Place and the Town Hall.

The current Town Hall as we see it today was built by the Estcourts in 1738 and their crest can be seen on the side of the building. Although Queen Anne was dead by this time, her statue was placed on the front of the building facing St James Church in recognition of her help in having the church tower rebuilt after its collapse in 1699.

Later the building and the right to levy tolls was bought by a local solicitor and philanthropist, Henry Vizard and his portrait can be seen in the Town Hall.

Sadly, time moved on and the succeeding trustees to the 1896 Dursley Town Trust had run out of funds to keep up the fabric of the building and thus handed it over to Dursley Town Council. However, as a public body, the Town Council was not able to raise money from the usual charitable sources and thus in 1999 the Dursley Town Trust was reformed.

Thanks to the unstinting generosity of the inhabitants of Dursley and various charitable organisations, the Town Hall and undercroft were totally refurbished by the beginning of 2000 and the Trust were honoured that the Princess Royal agreed to come and open it.

A few years later, the Trust were distraught by the state of what had been known in Dursley for many years as "The Weaver's House" and they used the same techniques of fund raising to get this building put back to its former glory. Now known as Jacob's House (Jacob being the weaver or rather the carder who lived there many years ago) it is used as a picturesque office for Dursley Town Council. A light airy Heritage Centre was built on to Jacob's House, this is used for permanent and temporary exhibitions of materials relating to Dursley's heritage.

The Trust's work never stops. These buildings are now a source of pride to the town, but as all of us who own property know only too well, it does not take long for signs of neglect to emerge. Therefore, we are constantly on the search for ways of making money to keep these properties in tip-top condition. You will see markets in the undercroft virtually every day of the week, small meetings upstairs in the Town Hall, convivial parties and so on. Every year a calender is produced, depicting local scenes, which is sold to generate revenue for the Town Hall.

A bookings diary is held at the Wild Goose Garage at Dursley. Please think about the Town Hall as a venue for your next event!