DEVIZES Town Council has promised to give £50,000 to a key project in the town.

Assize Court was bought in 2018 by the Devizes Assize Court Trust and the charity will be leading the drive to find the £13 million needed for the restoration and refitting of the county’s principal museum.

This newspaper reported back in January that the Wiltshire Museum was to relocate to the Assizes,  the grand Grade II-listed site which has been derelict since the 1980s - once “the small matter of raising £13 million was dealt with first”.

The trust also announced in the summer that the National Lottery Heritage Fund had accepted its 'Expression of Interest', and that it is now able to submit an application for funding. 

The project has now been given an extra boost by Devizes Town Council, which has committed to investing £50,000. 

The council’s Town Clerk Simon Fisher said: “It was agreed development of the Assize Court project was not only critical to providing sustained tourism income for the town but will also provide an important new community facility.

“As such, it has been agreed to use £50,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) income to support the project.

“Whilst it is recognised there is still no guarantee that the project will be successful, what is known without local financial support national funders, such as the Lottery Fund, will not support it because there is no demonstration locally that we value the project.”

The decision was discussed at the full council meeting on October 16 where the councillors discussed the CIL money and how they can use it to help grow the community.

Although the project is still dependent on securing a large chunk of money through the National Lottery funding, it has been welcomed as a step in the right direction.

Director of Wiltshire Museum David Dawson said: “Wiltshire Museum has been in its present building since 1872 but the building itself is not suitable so we’ve tried to make the best of a bad job trying to make the place work.

“Although £50,000 doesn’t sound like much, the funding from Devizes Town Council is absolutely key because it demonstrates the support from the Town Council and the community so that’s why it is so vital.”

Mr Dawson also confirmed a bid will be submitted to the National Lottery in March.

He added: "They’ll have two years to assess it but to get everything ready I would expect it to all be finished by 2029 or possibly 2030.”