Did you know that Godshill has a Civic Trust Award?
The Civic Trust was founded in 1957 by Duncan Sandys, a British politician, and the former son-in-law of Sir Winston Churchill. It campaigned to make better places for people to live. It ran until 2009 before going into administration due to a shortage of funding.
Civic Trust Awards was founded in 1959 and is still going strong today. It’s one of the oldest built environment award schemes in Europe.
This plaque is on a wall in Godshill. Have you spotted it? Do you know anyone who might throw some light on who actually won this award in Godshill in the very first year of the award scheme?
Further research has revealed that the award was for “Visibility & Amenity Improvement to Godshill Square” – https://www.civictrustawards.org.uk/benet/schemes/visibility-amenity-improvement-to-godshill-square
The award was made to Godshill Parish Council. They had requested the removal of a hedge to improve visibility and the wall was erected to improve visibility on which was an awkward corner – even in 1959.
According to Ron Mew, the village has two other awards – one for the layout of Paddock Close and the other for the layout of the toilets – both through the Rural District Council (RDC) which subsequently became South Wight Borough Council..