YORK Civic Trust has celebrated its 75th birthday by unveiling a list of the 10 achievements of which it is most proud.

Top of the list comes the purchase and restoration, in the 1980s, of Fairfax House.

Other notable achievements include launching the city's blue plaques scheme, and the part the Trust played in founding the University of York.

The first-ever meeting of the Trust was held 75 years ago at the end of last month in the Mansion House. Among those present were the Archbishop of York Cyril Garbett. He gave a speech in which he said that York had to protect itself against 'four great enemies': the weathering effect of time; the malice of man; the greed of commercialism; and ignorance.

While the role of the Civic Trust has evolved, it many ways it has been helping to protect the city against all four of these ever since.

Throughout last month, the Trust celebrated its 10 most significant achievements one by one on social media. Now the full list has been revealed. It has been a great way to convey the scope of what the organisation does, said chief executive Andrew Morrison.

"While the blue plaque programme and restoration of Fairfax House Museum are more widely associated with the Trust, it is perhaps less well-known that the Trust is responsible for establishing inner-city ‘pocket parks’ and installing the Fossgate Banner," he said.

Here's the full list of the 10 achievements:

  1. The purchase and restoration of Fairfax House in the 1980s
  2. The blue plaque program
  3. In 1960 the York Civic Trust was integral to the foundation of the University of York
  4. The restoration of the William Etty statue outside York Art Gallery in 2018
  5. The commissioning of the iconic bronze statue of Roman Emperor Constantine in 1998
  6. The creation of the All Saints Pavement Churchyard ‘Pocket Park’ in 2016.
  7. The installation of the Fossgate Banner in April 2018.
  8. The restoration of the medieval St Crux parish hall in the 1980s
  9. The repainting of the coat of arms on the gates of the Memorial Gardens in 2018
  10. The restoration of the Victorian water trough on Clifton Green in 2019

To find out more, visit yorkcivictrust.co.uk/category/news/