The History of the Sherwood & Waudby Trust

Many years ago three trusts were established in the village of Walkington: the Poor's
Land (or Waudby trust), the Non-Educational trust of William Sherwood and the
Sherwood Educational Foundation.

In a will dated 8th September 1537, William Sherwood left certain properties in
Walkington to Trustees, to apply the issues and profits, to the support of prayers by
the Priest. Should there be no Priest issues, the profits were to be given to his poor
neighbours or else to be for the mending of the way between Walkington and Beverley.
This was of vital importance to the villagers, as it enabled them to take their produce
to the weekly market in Beverley. William Sherwood also paid a penny per week to each
child in the village to attend school, which shows the Christian character of the man.

Administration of the Trust

Trustees were appointed to safeguard his wishes and to administer the land and
property throughout the long years. Sadly, very little is known about the man
William Sherwood, and his last resting place is not known, but his will and testament
has brought great succour and pleasure to many village folk over the years. 

Further directions of the administration of the Trusts were made over the years.
The Waudby Trust was much smaller compared to the other two and
unfortunately little is known of the history of this branch of the trust. InOctober 1981,
the Charity Commissioners approved a scheme which brought together the three
trusts, under the present title, to be administered and managed as one.

The Trust owns approximately 45 acres of agricultural land in the parish, including
the bowling green, allotments, one of the bus stops and six tenanted cottages.
The income from these tenancies can only be distributed within the parish of
Walkington to village organisations and the activities of the Trust are monitored by
the Charity Commissioners in Liverpool.

There are six Trustees appointed to serve on the Trust. The Ex-officio Trustee is
always the Rector of All Hallows church. Nominative Trustees serve for a term of
four years and are appointed by the Parish Council, currently - David Drew, Ken
Hearne and George Southern. Two Co-opted Trustees serve for a term of five years,
they are co-opted through either residence, occupation, employment, or otherwise have special knowledge of the parish of Walkington - currently they are, Mick Morrill and
Julian Johnson. The present Chairman is George Southern and the clerk to the Trustees
is Mrs Sue Sugars. The Trust's annual report for 2011 can be accessed here.
 
If anyone has further information on the history or background of the Trust, please
contact the Clerk or one of the trustees.