Margaret Parrott’s letter last week highlighted that Wiltshire Council has withdrawn funding from the Wiltshire Victoria County History.

This is a long-term project of national significance to produce a scholarly and detailed history of the county, parish by parish.

Volume 19 covering Longleat and the Deverills is just about finished. Wiltshire has the proudest record among the English counties of completing these volumes. It would be sad and a terrible waste of research skills and experience if this progress was now to stop.

Fortunately, this need not happen, despite the current financial hiatus. Supported by our patron, the Lord Lieutenant Sarah Troughton, the VCH Trust is preparing to take up the challenge of initiating Volume 20. This will cover Chippenham and its environs – the largest town in the county that has not been studied yet. Of course significant funds are needed to carry on the project, but other counties, notably Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, are examples of how it can be done without local authority funding.

Within Wiltshire, and especially in the Chippenham area, there must be enough people who will understand that this is something important and worthwhile for our county and will help us to raise the funds.

Do look up the VCH on the web: www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/ counties/wiltshire, and do contact me if you would like more information, or if you would like to be involved.

Vicky Landell Mills Chairman of the VCH Trust vicky@landellco.com