Ringwood councillors debate lottery bid to fund £250,000 art trail for market’s 800th anniversary

RINGWOOD town councillors are considering making a bid for National Lottery cash to fund an art trail celebrating the 800th anniversary of the town’s market charter.

Estimated to cost up to £250,000, the Market Place art trail aims to revitalise the historic centre, and would include sculptures and arches together with information boards and links to online resources.

It would highlight the heritage of the town including its coaching inns, seed merchants and the significance of the Market Place itself.

Members of the planning, town and environment committee were due to decide today (friday) on a recommendation from the neighbourhood plan steering group to submit the expression of interest to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This would establish whether the fund would support such a project.

A report to the committee said: “For younger generations the traditions and importance of being a market town have been lost. This project would reconnect people with the history of what the town once was by creating an art trail celebrating the goods that the market sold, as well as the town’s connection to the New Forest and the River Avon.”

The hope was to start consultation in early 2024 and complete the project by summer 2025, ahead of the 800th anniversary in 2026. The market continues on Wednesdays but has diminished in size.

The idea for an art trail came from consultation with students at Ringwood School; and the project has the support of the Ringwood Society, which would partner with the town council on the submission.