THE COWDRAY HERITAGE TRUST
Registered charity 1071069 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
The restoration and opening to the public of a Tudor mansion house in Midhurst West Sussex
Causes: Environment/conservation/heritage · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £880,818 for the year, resulting in accumulated unrestricted reserves of £885,918. The trustees indicate these reserves are being accumulated to fund emergency management, property maintenance, and the design of a project to reopen the ruins. The auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: sufficient annual reserves for the effective management of emergencies and the funding of annual property maintenance requirements (held: £886k)
“As part of creating a sustainable business plan the Trust aims to accumulate sufficient annual reserves for the effective management of emergencies and the funding of annual property maintenance requirements of Cowdray Ruins.” — page 4
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Note 22
“Included in unrestricted income for the year is £10,000 (2024: £0) received from The Viscount Cowdray, a trustee of the charity. Included in trade creditors at the balance sheet date is an amount of £12,945 (2024: £7,270) owed to the Cowdray Estate (Viscount Cowdray trading as Cowdray Estate), arising from various Trust expenses recharged at cost from the Estate.” — page 19
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Affinia. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
Company officers (Companies House)
Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.
- CANSFIELD, Nicholas James — director, appointed 13/05/2025on trustee list
- KENNEDY, Andrew Malcolm — director, appointed 08/10/2021on trustee list
- RUSSELL, Jonathan Edward — director, appointed 16/09/2020on trustee list
- COWDRAY, Michael Orlando Weetman, Lord — director, appointed 27/11/1997on trustee list
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Reported reserves equal ~39.0 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (95% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.7% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: West Sussex
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE COWDRAY HERITAGE TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £880,818 for the year, resulting in accumulated unrestricted reserves of £885,918. The trustees indicate these reserves are being accumulated to fund emergency management, property maintenance, and the design of a project to reopen the ruins. The auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Affinia.
Who funds THE COWDRAY HERITAGE TRUST?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE COWDRAY HERITAGE TRUST as a grant recipient include MIDHURST PENSIONS TRUST, BIRTHDAY HOUSE TRUST, ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSEUMS.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
Funders of similar charities
Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.
Charities like this
Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MIDHURST PENSIONS TRUST.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.