Origins of the Trust
Newbold Legacy Trust’s funds originate from the sale of Newbold House in St Leonard’s Road in Forres. Newbold House was a grand, late Victorian house, with extensive gardens, purchased by a group of individuals in 1982 for the purpose of exploring communal living. Over the course of four decades, Newbold House hosted workshops and seminars, primarily, but not exclusively, focused on spiritual matters and personal growth from a broad, multi-faith perspective. As time went on, the focus broadened to incorporate sustainable living as one of its key objectives.
Many hundreds of people lived, worked and stayed at Newbold House during this time. The mainly volunteer community members contributed to everything from the maintenance of the house and the rare Mackenzie & Moncur conservatory, to hosting and making food for the residents and guests, to taking bookings and administering the Trust, to developing and maintaining the gardens and growing lots of wonderful vegetables and fruit in the 1-acre Victorian walled garden. It was a much loved local venue and many people appreciated in particular the peaceful atmosphere of the house and garden.
In spite of best efforts to keep the Trust going, the realities of keeping an old house and gardens of this size in good order eventually caught up with the Trust in 2019. A number of factors combined to make the continuation of Newbold House’s activities no longer viable. Changing market conditions impacted the Trust, exacerbated by Newbold House’s limitations in terms of its accommodation options. More onerous Health & Safety legislation also had an impact on the viability of the trust.
In early 2020, Newbold Trust was placed into voluntary liquidation by its trustees, and the house was sold in September 2020. The proceeds of sale, after payment of significant debts and a lengthy liquidation process, were placed into a new charitable vehicle in February 2023 – Newbold Legacy Trust, which is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
