Digswell Arts Trust

[1] When Henry Morris was appointed to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning as a cultural advisor, he obtained backing from the government and the Welwyn Garden City Development Corporation and established the Digswell Arts Trust in 1957.

[1] The trust was named after Digswell House, a decayed Regency mansion with cottages and outbuildings on the edge of Welwyn Garden City.

The house was renovated by Hans Coper, Stirrat Johnson-Marshall and Bill Allen and leased to the trust to provide accommodation and studios for artists.

[7] Attimore Hall Barn, a restored 17th century listed building in the Panshanger area of Welwyn Garden City, was leased in 1979 by the trust as additional studio space.

English Partnerships had by then taken control of the barn, planning to convert it to housing, and worked with the trust to design a new purpose-built studio building on the site of the former forge in Digswell, on which a 25-year lease was taken in April 2006.