Board of Trustees.

The Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust is run by nine dedicated, experienced and unpaid volunteer trustees all of whom are actively involved. There are no paid staff.

  • Sinclair Johnston

    BSc MSc(Historic Conservation) CEng FICE FIStructE

    Chair of the Trust

    A conservation-accredited structural engineer,, occasional lecturer at Oxford, Oxford Brookes and Reading universities and contributor to BBC TV News and Sky News on conservation topics. Fifty years’ experience with historic structures and forty-five years of involvement in the Forest of Dean.

    Sinclair lives in London and near Ruardean Woodside.

  • Laura Stevens

    BA (Hons) Fine Art, MA Heritage Management

    Company Secretary

    A specialist decorator and designer working in the built heritage sector, she is a founding trustee of this trust, Chairman of the Traditional Paint Forum amd a trustee of the Cathedral of the Forest (All Saints, Newland) she lectureson the Conservation & Context of the Historic Interior MA course at Birmingham University..

    Laura lives near Coleford.

  • William (Bill) Parker

    MA, FRICS

    Treasurer

    A chartered surveyor who has been the buyer of last resort of significant listed buildings in the Forest of Dean including Gunns Mill, which he donated to the Trust, the Flour Mill Colliery buildings in Bream which he converted to a steam locomotive workshop and the Old Place in Bream which he has been restoring as his house for 30 years.

  • Hannah David

    BA (Hons), MA, PGDip

    Born and raised in Clearwell, Hannah studied History and Historic Conservation and has worked for Historic England and before that English Heritage for 13 years in a variety of roles including Listing, Grants and Conservation. Now national Business Development Manager.

  • Allan Ockenden

    BSc (Hons) Civil Egineering, MSc Historic Conservation, CEng, FICE

    Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers; Certificate in Field Archaeology, University of London; Postgraduate Certificate in Architectural History, Oxford University.

    Allan has worked extensively abroad and now lives in Hope Mansell.

  • Kate Graham

    MA PG Dip Cons AA

    Former Historic Buildings Inspector for Historic England and Conservation and Design Manager for a London local planning authority. Now Director of a historic environment consultancy.

    Kate lives in Clearwell.

  • David Viner

    Cert Ed, BA, MSc Historic Conservation, IHBC

    A time-served carpenter and joiner with twenty years experience as a regional Heritage Adviser to the Canal & River Trust. Now retired and acting as a consultant for canal-related work. He leads the volunteers who maintain and repair the Trust’s sites.

    David has lived in the Forest of Dean not far from Gunns Mill for forty-five years.

  • Dr. Jon Berry

    BA (Hons) Archaeology, MA Archaeological Survey, MA Librarianship, PhD Archaeology. MCIfA, FSA

    A member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he has worked for Cadw for twenty years, the last ten as Senior Inspector of Ancient Monuments, providing archaeological and conservation advice for scheduled monuments across Wales such as Caerphilly Castle, Castell Coch and Tintern Abbey. Jon lives in Bream.

  • Kate Biggs

    BA (Hons) Archaeology, IHBC

    A founding trustee of the Trust in 2007 whilst working as Conservation Officer for the Forest of Dean District Council.

    Studied Archaeology at York and worked for York Archaeological Trust, Dean Heritage Museum and the Forest of Dean District Council before joining the Overlooking the Wye team at the Wye Valley AONB conserving significant heritage sites in the Wye Valley. Currently Principal Conservation Officer with Gloucester City Council. A Forester for five generations, Kate lives in Clearwell.