The Trust's Community Role

Donations

East Looe Town Trust is able to make small donations from Trust funds upon request. The policy for this and pro forma can be found on the pdf at the bottom of this page.

Buildings and Land 

East Looe Town Trust is responsible for the maintenance of East Looe Beach and Seafront and the Wooldown as well as the Guildhall, the Old Guildhall Museum and a number of other properties for the benefit of the community now and in the future.

Watchtower

The East Looe Town Trust is delighted to have been awarded a match funded grant by the Architectural Heritage Fund to conduct a viability study to assess costs and options for restoring the Watchtower on East Looe seafront. It has written to town organisations to seek their support and comments.

The Old lifeboat shed and Watchtower is a Grade II listed building which has played an important role in Looe's seafaring history since the first Looe lifeboat was dedicated 150 years ago. The Watchtower is a splendid looking building of strong construction, and a degree of detailing in its design which belies its utilitarian purpose. Sadly, after years of trying to fix the effects of all that wind and tide can throw at it, the Watchtower is now vacant and used to store items that will not be damaged by damp. It is therefore at risk of further structural decline.

If restoration work is to go ahead the Trust will be seeking more substantial funding, which to some extent, will depend on the level of local community support.

Trustee John Warne CB said, “The Trust has a duty to protect listed buildings in its care, and to use all its assets to support its charitable purposes. We welcome expressions of support for restoration and suggestions about the future use of the Watchtower - understanding that to meet the cost of maintaining the Looe Museum, beach and seafront, Wooldown, and Guildhall, the Trust is almost entirely dependent on its rental income”.