Bath Preservation Trust

Trustees

Thomas Sheppard – Chairman of BPT

Thomas Sheppard latestThomas Sheppard became Chairman of BPT in February 2016.

Thomas joined as a Trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust in 2000 under the chairmanship of Michael Briggs and he remained a trustee until 2012. During his first time with BPT, he chaired the Architecture & Planning Committee (now the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee) and was closely involved with the acquisition and development of Number 1a Royal Crescent. After an absence he re-joined as the Chair-Elect in January 2016 to follow Edward Bayntun-Coward. Thomas is a Solicitor in private practice with regional solicitors Thrings and he specialises in land and property and he has been connected – usually as a trustee and often as chair – with many well-loved local organisations as well as time as a parish councillor. He lives in Bath and was educated at King Edward’s School in Broad Street (as were his father and grandfather before him) and so can properly claim to be a long-standing Bath resident.

 

Claire Dixon – Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Museums

In attendance at Finance, Advocacy & Campaigning, and Museums & Education committee meetings.

Before joining BPT in 2014, Claire’s career has been largely within the public or non-profit sector, working with cultural organisations particularly to develop visitor experiences, implement change management and deliver business plans. She started her career working on a large capital project at The Tank Museum in Bovington, before working at Hampshire Cultural Trust to curate and install exhibitions across ten museums and art galleries around the county.  Before joining BPT Claire worked for the National Trust at property level, managing the visitor experience on Brownsea Island before taking responsibility for the house, collections and wider visitor services at Kingston Lacy.  She has an MA from Leicester University in Museum Studies. She is currently also Chair of the South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries.

Trustees as of 2021:

  • Thomas Sheppard

    Chairman of BPT.

    See his short biography above.

  • Diane Aderyn OBE

    Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

    Diane is Director of Finance and Commercial Services at the University of Bath and before that was Deputy Bursar at the University of Manchester. Currently represents the University of Bath as Trustee of the Herschel House Trust and longstanding treasurer of South Wraxall P.C.C. Formerly Trustee of Bath Festivals and the College of Radiographers.

  • Victoria Thornton OBE

    Chair of the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee.

    Victoria is the Founder and former Director of Open House and Open-City, an architecture education charity advocating the value of design in creating vibrant, liveable cities. Other positions and roles have included Jury Member RIBA Royal Gold Medal; Board Member Irish Architecture Foundation; Women in Architecture Judge; RIBA Research Committee, Expert Advisory Board, Bartlett 2050 Leadership Programme and Architecture ls member. She is also the author of Open House, Chair of Open House Worldwide, and co-author of London’s Guide to Contemporary Architecture. Victoria was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the RIBA in 2003, Honorary MA from London Metropolitan University, 2006, and an OBE in 2012 for services to architecture and education. Victoria joined the Council of the Architectural Association in 2016.  Since moving to Bath, Victoria has taken an active interest in the Museum of Bath Architecture and is a member of Architecture Is, a collaboration between amongst others BPT and the University of Bath.

  • Robert Dunton

    Member of the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee.

    Robert is a highly experienced conservation architect. He joined Donald Insall Associates in 1977 and has recently retired as Managing Director of the Bath branch office. Work on Trinity College, Cambridge’s famous library and that of Gonville and Caius Library won Europa Nostra Awards. Rob’s work in the Bath office includes the restoration of the libraries at All Souls College and Christ Church as well as the restoration of three ranges of 17th century residential buildings for Pembroke College, winning the Oxford Preservation Trust Award. Concurrently, Rob managed the HLF restoration of Cardiff Castle. Recent work includes the restoration of a Wiltshire Georgian house destroyed by fire (Georgian Group Award 2015) and the phased restoration of an Elizabethan country house near Warminster. He is also a Trustee of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust.

  • Julie Finch

    Chair of the Museums & Education Committee.

    Julie is the CEO of The Cheltenham Trust, she had been an advisor to the BPT Museums and Education Committee through 2017/18.  She has gained a wide range of heritage and cultural sector experience working regionally as Director of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries and Archives and committee member for Heritage Lottery Fund south-west, nationally as a council member for Arts Council England and internationally as Director for the new Western Australian Museum in Perth.  During her career she has been a great advocate for collaborative working, the power of culture and heritage to inspire engagement and education reaching the most diverse audiences as demonstrated at M Shed, the people’s museum for Bristol.  She has worked collaboratively with Bath institutions over the years and continues to have a keen interest and passion for developing heritage assets and their audiences.

  • David Hall

    David had a career in newspaper and magazine publishing, as journalist, editor and as a consultant in skills and management development, as well as leading the transition from traditional methods to digital technology. He then provided communications management for companies and charities. In London David chaired a charity running a thriving community centre which was transforming from financial dependency on the local authority to self-sustaining autonomy.  At the same time David established a local amenity group to safeguard a neglected open space.  Since moving to Bath David has been a regular BPT volunteer at Beckford’s Tower and sits on the council of Bath Natural History Society.

  • Peta Hall

    Peta took a London Secretarial course when her parents moved to California, and after obtaining a First Class Diploma, she spent a year in California as an au pair. Peta then returned to Bath to spend 10 years as PA to several high profile business leaders. One was to become Chairman of Bath Preservation Trust (BPT), bringing Peta in to the Trust in 1999 to help open Beckford’s Tower and later to become Membership Secretary for 16 years. Before BPT, Peta joined an American Undergraduate programme based in Bath as PA to the Directors and Manager. Peta held Directorships of Higher Education in Europe, Academic Agency Ltd and Advanced Studies in England (ASE), and was appointed member of the Institute of Directors. Peta was also Company Secretary to companies in the same organisation and helped to manage  various international conference. In the 2000s, while working for BPT, Peta also worked for ASE as their Housing Manager, looking after student housing and welfare. In 2017 Peta stepped down from ASE and as Membership Secretary for BPT and now enjoys a continued, voluntary relationship with the Trust, as well as joining the Board of BCVS Homes in Bath and the Committee of St John’s Court, Bath.

  • Bruce Haines

    Bruce worked in advertising for over forty years before moving to Bath in 2013. During his career he worked in this country and globally advising major companies on their brands and marketing. He was Group CEO of Leo Burnett London and, most recently, Global COO of Cheil, part of the Samsung Group based in Seoul, South Korea. He is a former President of the industry’s trade body, the IPA, a Fellow of the Marketing Society and a former Chair and now Patron of NABS, the main charity of the communications industry.

  • Robert Hellard

    Member of the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee.

    A Civil Engineer with 13 years in the construction industry before setting up his own business, Mendip Fireplaces (Bath), in 1980. Robert is Vice-Chairman of South Stoke Parish Council.

  • Colin Johnston

    Colin came to Bath in 1984 as City Archivist to the former Bath City Council and is now manager of the combined Archives and Local Studies services at Bath Record Office. He is a long-standing member of several Bath history groups for which he has intermittently served in committee and officer roles.

  • Rachel Johnston

  • Tom Marshall

    Member of the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee.

    Tom is a retired Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a commercial property consultant  specialising in development and real estate, and has held a number of senior roles in this sector.

  • Simon Morray-Jones

    Member of the Architecture, Planning & Place Committee.

    Simon heads an architecture practice based in central Bath which specialises in upgrading historic properties whilst adapting them to the twenty-first century. The practice has considerable experience in all aspects of restoration, conversion and extensions to listed buildings and has received numerous awards and commendations for its combination of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. Simon was previously a Trustee for 12 years until 2017.