Councillors delay decision on £15k grant for Trimontium Visitor Centre
A bid for £15k towards a new visitor centre at a Roman site in Melrose has sustained an unexpected and potentially fatal funding blow.
The Trimontium Trust was set up to explore and explain the Roman site of Trimontium and tell the wider story of the Romans in Scotland.
The charity does this by running a museum in Newstead near Melrose, displaying finds from the Roman Iron-Age and through outreach activities including lectures, talks, publications and community archaeology, engaging with schools, students, community organisations and specialist groups.
The Trust has recently signed a 25-year lease to undertake stewardship of the land under which the archaeology of the Trimontium Roman fort lies.
When members of Scottish Borders Council’s William Hill Trust Fund Sub-Committee met on Tuesday, June 16, they were asked to contribute £15k towards an expansion bid.
Funding would be used to purchase and build a cabin to support access and outdoor learning activities interpreting military and civilian life at the fort and indigenous culture within the wider landscape.
It would offer a reception for visitors to the site, act as a muster point for guided walks, provide storage for learning material and equipment and become an educational base for the construction of a replica Iron Age roundhouse, which is subject of separate funding.
Members at the meeting expressed general support for the funding bid, although perhaps not for the full amount.
But committee chair Councillor David Parker intervened to suggest that as the museum was not located in Melrose it may not qualify for the financial support.
He said: “The complication I foresee with this is that it is not Melrose, so I don’t think it qualifies because it is Newstead and I don’t think William Hill covers Newstead, I don’t think it covers the villages.”
“That’s very sad”, responded the Trimontium Trust secretary Kay Callander.
Members adjourned a decision for legal advice to be taken.