2021-12-31-accounts

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BERKHAMSTED CASTLE TRUST

A Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered Charity (England & Wales) No. 1176286

Report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2021

Reference and administrative information	1
Trustees’ annual report	3
Statement of financial activities	11
Balance sheet	13
Notes to the financial statements	15

Reference and administrative information

Charity name Berkhamsted Castle Trust Charity type Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Foundation Model) Charity number 1176286 Registered Address Hilltop House Gravel Path Berkhamsted Hertfordshire HP4 2PJ Operational Address Berkhamsted Castle White Hill Berkhamsted Hertfordshire HP4 1JL Trustees Trustees who served in the year to 31 December 2021 (“the reporting period”) were as follows: Adrian Barham[1] Sarah Caradec Patrick Emery Lou Garrod Susan Johnson[2] Peter Matthews[3] Dr James Moir Professor Jonathan Morris Richard Thompson Ken Wallis[4] Bill Willett

By the date of formal adoption of this report Patrick Emery had stepped down as a trustee (on 10 February 2022) and Richard North had been appointed (on 13 September 2022) in his place.

1 Chair of Trustees & nominee of Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society

3 Nominee of Berkhamsted Town Council

4 Nominee of Berkhamsted & District Archaeology Society

2 Nominee of Berkhamsted Citizens Association

Report of the Trustees for the period ended 31 December 2021

The Trustees present their report and financial statements covering the financial year to 31 December 2021.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the charity's constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. Berkhamsted Castle Trust reports the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the Trustees ensure that the charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes.

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

Purposes and aims

The object of Berkhamsted Castle Trust is the advancement of the education of the public by:

(1) promoting or assisting in the promotion of improvements in the organisation and provision of information and other services and facilities for visitors by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (also known as Historic England) and The English Heritage Trust (registered charity no: 1140351) or their successors in respect of Berkhamsted Motte and Bailey Castle, Hertfordshire (a scheduled ancient monument, List entry Number: 1010756) (“the castle”) and generally in the preservation and upkeep of the castle and by fostering the use and enjoyment of the castle by the public;
(2) conducting, financing or otherwise commissioning historical research or archaeological investigation into the castle (and people or events of historical significance connected to it) and making public the results of such research or investigation (by means of publications, exhibitions, lectures, meetings, events, discussions, guided visits or otherwise);
(3) taking into ownership or use in order to further the above object any land or building forming part of, or formerly part of, the castle (whether by purchase, lease, receipt as a gift or otherwise).

Historical development

Local engagement with Berkhamsted Castle has for many years been co-ordinated through a Castle Liaison Group chaired by a Councillor from Berkhamsted Town Council. This Group brought together representatives from Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society (registered charity no: 803417), Berkhamsted and District Archaeology Society, Berkhamsted Citizens Association, Berkhamsted Town Council and Dacorum Borough Council who would meet periodically with a representative from The English Heritage Trust (registered charity no: 1140351) and the Duchy of Cornwall’s Land Steward for the area. In addition, for well over a decade, the Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society has run the visitors’ room adjacent to the cottage at the Castle in which sixteen panels set out the history and development of the Castle and the town.

A strategic decision was taken in 2017 to establish a new registered charity focussed solely on the Castle, as a replacement for the Castle Liaison Group, and to work towards local management of the site (including the visitors’ room) in partnership with The English Heritage Trust. Each of the stakeholders on the Castle Liaison Group was given a right to nominate one Trustee to the new charity to continue to represent their interests.

Achievements and performance

The challenging circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic continued to have a significant impact on the Trust’s activities in 2021. The Trust therefore continued to focus on the provision of core service of managing the Castle site under the Local Management Agreement with English Heritage. As was the case last year, we also ensured that financial commitments did not out-strip income (or the appropriate portion of reserves, where necessary).

Notwithstanding the continuing challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic during 2021, the Trust continued to make a significant contribution to many sectors of the public with an interest in the history of the Castle and its former residents. Volunteers and Trustees between them provided almost 1600 hours of volunteer service in support of our activities.

Guided tours & visits

During the year we provided free guided tours to over a dozen schools and community groups from Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London, including Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides groups and local health walking groups. We also welcomed the COP 26 Churches Relay group, who stopped at the Castle for a picnic as part of their walk to the COP 26 conference in Glasgow.

Coronavirus compliance

We continued to meet our legal obligations in relation to Coronavirus compliance during 2021, including maintaining our " We're Good to Go " accreditation from Visit Britain and also acquiring the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) international “Safe Travels” stamp. The Castle site remained open throughout the year, with the

one-way route round the embankment continuing. The visitors' room remained closed throughout 2021, which again significantly affected our ability to provide on-site interpretation to visitors, and also severely limited our ability to generate incidental income from sales of postcards / guide books, etc., and from donations.

Highways drainage issues

Following on from last year’s discussions with Hertfordshire Highways about flooding of local roads around the Castle, Hertfordshire Highways commissioned an archaeological investigation of the outer moat at three locations where pipes had previously been connected from the road sewer to the moat. Test pitting in the outer moat, supervised by Museum of London Archaeology, was undertaken opposite the end of Bridgewater Road and facing White Hill, together with auger hole sampling on three transects.

Car crashes

In February we had yet another car through the Castle fencing – the third occasion in 15 months – this time on New Road. The driver left the scene without reporting the matter, and was untraced, leaving the Trust with the costs of repair.

Great British Spring Clean

The Trust took part in Keep Britain Tidy’s “Great British Spring Clean”, with volunteers picking up litter across the Castle site and in the streets around the Castle. These activities were featured in a report in the Daily Mail on 7 June, together with a photograph of our volunteers. This also led to the installation by Dacorum Borough Council of a new litter bin outside the Castle, on the corner of White Hill and Brownlow Road.

VIRE escape room games

English Heritage, having successfully arranged for a pilot of historically themed "escape room" type games to be run at the castle last year, rolled these out at various sites around the country in 2021. Although this remained a popular attraction at the Castle, the speed and scale of the roll-out meant it was not sustainable, and the arrangement was halted after only a short period of operation.

Great Crested Newt survey

Following last year’s habitats survey, we arranged for Herts Amphibian & Reptile Group and the London, Essex & Hertfordshire Amphibian and Reptile Trust (LEHART) to conduct a survey for Great Crested Newts (GCN) in the moats at the Castle. Will Atkins of LEHART has been surveying at the Castle annually for the past 30 years, and the survey again confirmed extensive GCN presence in the moat and the sewers in the road just outside the Castle.

Planter benches

The Trust acquired and installed a number of planter benches for the paved area outside the Visitors’ Room window. These have been planted with a selection of seasonal flowers and plants, brightening up and making useful what was otherwise an underused area.

Gilbert & Sullivan concert

The local Rotary Club again made use of the Castle to stage a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance”. Due to Covid restrictions in force at the time, attendance was restricted to just 300 people.

Geophysical Surveys

A first draft of a survey report for the 2019 geophysical survey of the bailey by RSK Geophysics was provided to the Trust. This shows a number of interesting anomalies indicative of building remains in various locations not previously identified, including adjacent to the Cottage and extending northwards from the chapel towards the well in the bailey. Further analysis and interpretation will be undertaken on this data.

Wall conservation works

Following a number of incidents of falling masonry, English Heritage undertook a wall condition survey and commenced a plan of consolidation works. This resulted in several areas of the walls being fenced off for the protection the public.

Heritage Open Days 2021

The Trust once again ran its traditional, free guided tours for the Heritage Open Days event, with one of our Trustees providing his usual high standard of engaging tours on five occasions.

Mediaeval Cookery display

In conjunction with the Heritage Open Days theme of “Edible England”, the Trust was delighted to welcome Tastes of History to put on a medieval cookery demonstration within the Castle walls over two days. Husband-and-wife team Mark and Jill Hatch amazed and delighted visitors with an array of dishes from the 14th-century cookbook, " The Forme of Cury ", including Ymbre Day Tarte (a cheese flan), a Grete Pye (game pie), buttered wortes (greens) and savoury green soup.

Armed Forces Day banner

Working with the Community Partnerships team at Dacorum Borough Council, we were pleased to display a large banner on the heritage of the Castle and its links to the forces for Armed Forces Day.

Visit of Historic Monuments Inspector & listing of Cottage

The Trust welcomed a visit from our new Historic Monuments Inspector from Historic England, Dr Jess Tipper, during which we discussed the history of the Castle and the issues and challenges facing the site. Following that meeting Dr Tipper recommended the Castle Cottage for listing, and its assessment by the listings team at Historic England was commenced.

Berkhamsted market charity stall

In November the Trust again took the charity stall at Berkhamsted Market to promote its activities to the local community and also to undertake incidental sales of Berkhamsted Castle 2022 calendars (featuring photographs of the Castle taken by local photographer, Martin Evening), fridge magnets and Christmas cards, etc.

Trebuchet

The Trust was extremely grateful for the offer of donation of a replica Trebuchet to the Trust by Historic Royal Palaces (registered charity no. 1068852). Although this item, which had been in use and on display at the Tower of London for some years, would have proved incredibly helpful for our interpretation work (particularly in relation to the siege of Berkhamsted Castle of 1216), we were unable to find anywhere secure to store it. Accordingly, we had to decline the offer.

Social media

Throughout the year we continued to publish information about the Castle on our social media channels (particularly FaceBook and Twitter), and add new research / articles into the web site.

Administration

The Trust continues to benefit from the generous provision of IT support through the Google for Non-profits scheme, and the availability of free or discounted software through Charity Digital (registered charity no. 1133179). The Trustees are extremely grateful to both Google and Charity Digital for the continuing support offered to the Trust.

Plans for the future

Despite the testing times of the Covid pandemic, the Trust has continued to make a significant contribution to many sectors of the public with an interest in the history of the Castle and its former residents. The dedication of our volunteers has continued to make a significant difference to the public’s use and enjoyment of the Castle site.

The Trust’s focus for 2022 will continue to be to provide the core services committed to under the Local Management Agreement with English Heritage and to ensure that financial commitments do not out-strip income (or the appropriate portion of reserves, where necessary). But we will also continue to work with English Heritage

to set in train the planning necessary to commission a Development Plan to sit alongside the Conservation and Management Plan already drawn up.

Public benefit

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers and duties. The public benefit of the Charity’s activities is focussed on providing education to the general public about the history of the Castle and its former inhabitants and this is achieved principally by providing on-site access to a visitors’ room and guided tours around the Castle (pandemic conditions permitting) through which education is provided to visitors from the local area, nationally and internationally.

Structure, governance and management

Berkhamsted Castle Trust adopted its constitution on 13 December 2017 using the Charity Commission’s Charitable Incorporated Organisation Foundation Model documentation and was formally incorporated and registered by the Charity Commission on 14 December 2017. The Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society, Berkhamsted and District Archaeology Society, Berkhamsted Citizens Association, Berkhamsted Town Council and Dacorum Borough Council, as local stakeholders of the original Castle Liaison Group, were all given a right to nominate one trustee each to represent their interest in the Castle. The Trust may have a maximum of 15 trustees, inclusive of the 5 nominee trustees.

During the period of this report no further Trustees were appointed or resigned, meaning the current total remained at eleven. There are no current plans to extend this number, although this is kept under review to ensure that the Trust’s educational capability, financial management, and heritage activities are overseen by suitably capable individuals.

Financial review

The results for the review period were once again in line with the Trustees’ expectations given the pandemic. The continued local nature of the Trust’s activities meant that donations remained limited, and this was significantly impacted by ongoing concerns about Covid re-infection. However, the Trust did organise a Mediaeval Cookery demonstration as a planned expense, with only half the costs being recouped from donations. The Trust continued to have relatively few outgoings during the period, and again managed to postpone reduced some regular maintenance work to reduce costs. As a result, there were limited outgoings during 2021.

Reserves policy and going concern

The Trustees have continued to maintain the Trust’s assets in a liquid balance of funds in the bank during the uncertain times of the pandemic. No illiquid or longer term investments have been made pending a more detailed planning of the Trust’s future strategy and funding requirements.

All the funds of the Trust are unrestricted. The trustees have identified no significant short or medium term financial risks to the charity’s continued operations save the general economic climate of the country in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, and therefore the accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis.

Risk

The major risks to which the Charity is exposed have been identified by the Trustees and are monitored and reviewed regularly. A risk register will in due course be prepared and maintained. The Trustees minimise investment risk through maintenance of liquid assets at a reputable High Street bank; finance risk by the preparation and monitoring of budgets; strategic risk by the maintenance of good practice; and operational risk and regulation compliance risk through the regular review of activities and (where appropriate) the use of professional advisers.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

Law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities during the period and of its financial position at the end of the period. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the Trustees should follow best practice and:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principals in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Independent examiner

As the Trust’s gross income for the year was below £25,000, the Trustees have elected not to have the accounts reviewed by an Independent Examiner this year.

This report was approved by the Trustees on 18th October and signed by:

Adrian Barham Chair of Trustees

Statement of financial activities

Statement of financial activities for the period to 31 December 2021

Incidental Trading Sales of goods Cost of sales(NOTE 4) Incoming Resources Service Agreement Management Fee English Heritage Grants received Berkhamsted Town Council Voluntary Income Donations via Standing Order Payroll Donations Online donations Gifts in Kind Cash donations at the castle Resources Expended Costs of Generating Voluntary Income Charges deducted from donations Grants made English Heritage Trust (for people counters) Other resources expended Depreciation of website Fixed Asset(NOTE 3) Fees and registrations Visitor centre costs Event costs Research undertaken Site maintenance costs Surplus for year to end Dec 2021 Reserves brought forward	Current year GBP GBP 950.70 - 567.09 383.61 3,500.00 3,500.00 0.00 0.00 150.00 1,200.00 1,123.43 136.23 619.68 3,229.34 - 68.10 - 68.10 0.00 0.00 - 625.00 0.00 - 489.40 - 940.00 0.00 - 2,637.63 - 4,692.03 2,352.82 52,581.71 54,934.53	Previous year GBP GBP 1,461.73 - 839.69 622.04 3,500.00 3,500.00 982.00 982.00 150.00 1,200.00 408.88 332.20 104.49 2,195.57 - 82.50 - 82.50 - 1,373.00 - 1,373.00 - 625.00 - 40.00 - 575.09 - 1,182.00 - 3,074.58 - 5,496.67 347.44 52,234.27 52,581.71
	3,500.00	3,500.00
	0.00	982.00
	150.00 1,200.00 1,123.43 136.23 619.68	150.00 1,200.00 408.88 332.20 104.49
	- 68.10	- 82.50
	0.00	- 1,373.00
	- 625.00 0.00 - 489.40 - 940.00 0.00 - 2,637.63	- 625.00 - 40.00 - 575.09 - 1,182.00 - 3,074.58

Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2021

Current year GBP GBP 25,000.00 0.00 25,000.00 29,945.62 875.00 310.02 40.00 68.13 31,238.77 - 1,304.24 - 1,304.24 54,934.53	Previous year GBP GBP 25,000.00 625.00 25,625.00 27,710.74 875.00 268.13 56.40 68.13 28,978.40 - 2,021.69 - 2,021.69 52,581.71	Previous year GBP GBP 25,000.00 625.00 25,625.00 27,710.74 875.00 268.13 56.40 68.13 28,978.40 - 2,021.69 - 2,021.69 52,581.71
29,945.62 875.00 310.02 40.00 68.13	27,710.74 875.00 268.13 56.40 68.13
- 1,304.24	- 2,021.69

		52,581.71

The statement of financial activities and balance sheet were approved by the Trustees on 18th October 2022 and signed by: