York Civic Trust was founded in 1946 in a meeting at the Mansion House between four residents of York: John Bowes Morrell, Oliver Sheldon, Eric Milner-White and Noel Terry. The impetus for the founding of the Civic Trust came from an increasing concern about post-war planning and over-development. The city’s medieval core, and also the buried archaeological heritage of its much longer history, were in considerable danger from the developers.The Archbishop of York, Cyril Garbett, and the Lord Mayor Fred Gaines were in attendance at the first meeting of the Trust. In his speech, the Archbishop referred to the four threats facing the city: time and weather; war (the city had suffered some damage during the Baedeker raid in 1942); commercial greed; and ignorance – especially that of “people who thought they were improving and restoring when really they were ruining and destroying”.
