About us

Fulham Palace Trust was established in April 2011 and is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status.

We lease the Fulham Palace estate from the head lessor, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), which in turn leases it from the Church Commission. Both leases run until 2075.

Our business plan for the period 2017/18 – 2024/25 outlines the Trust’s vision and key aims:

Vision

To engage people, through the stories of Fulham Palace and the Bishops of London, in 6,000 years of English history, and to become one of the UK’s most inclusive and inspiring historic houses and gardens.

Tag line

Home to a history that never stands still

Key aims

1. To conserve and restore Fulham Palace house and garden following thorough analysis of options and sector best practice
2. To develop the understanding of Fulham Palace’s layered history through research and engagement with experts, partners, users and the community
3. To be inspirational, engaging and educational
4. To delight our visitors through excellent customer service and high quality facilities, interpretation and events
5. To be inclusive and participative in all areas of the Palace’s operation
6. To be sustainable and financially self-sufficient

Board of trustees

The Trust comprises 10 trustees, selected for their broad range of skills and experience, from PR, business and finance to heritage education, historic buildings, archaeology and horticulture.

Paul Gray, chair
Paul began his career in arts and heritage in 1995 as a marketing specialist. After senior roles at Kew Gardens, Turner Contemporary in Margate and Historic Royal Palaces, he became chief operating officer at the National Gallery in May 2018. After undertaking the Getty Leadership programme in 2015, Paul held non-executive director/trustee roles at Chelsea Physic Garden for eight years and was been a member of St Paul’s Cathedral Council for six years.

Deborah Farley-Persaud, deputy chair
Deborah has been a Whitehall civil servant for over 30 years with a broad range of experience including senior public policy, strategic and diplomatic roles delivering regulatory, operational, sponsorship and transformation programmes. She has also led on organisational development, corporate and infrastructure projects and improving performance though building inclusive teams. Deborah is an experienced Board member and is Chair of a national disability charity.

Clive Hinds, chair of finance, risk and audit committee
Clive has a maths background and as a chartered accountant spent his whole career with PwC. Internationally Clive worked with the Thai water authority, was liaison partner for South Asia and spent time in Zambia. On retirement he became Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust treasurer and advises a listed community centre and a theatre charity working with children with disabilities and special needs. He has always had a fascination with heritage, particularly the history of London and the way our iconic buildings developed over the ages. Clive enjoys tennis, swimming, country walking and used to run half marathons for charity, before dodgy knees.

Iain Cassidy
Iain is a Senior Researcher working in Parliament for Andy Slaughter MP. He was a local Councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham for 8 years, during which time he served as Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Pensions Committee. He also served as the Borough’s Walking & Cycling Champion, working with local stakeholders to increase the levels of active travel in the Borough. Before working in politics, Iain volunteered with the Voluntary Service Overseas, living and working in Kazakhstan. Iain is from Scotland, and moved to London in 2008. Iain holds an MEng from the University of Glasgow in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. He has an interest in historic churches and also enjoys photography and playing the piano.

Craig Coben
Craig has been a Fulham resident for over 25 years. He was an investment banker at Bank of America / Merrill Lynch from 2005 to 2022, holding several senior positions in London and Hong Kong. Prior to that, he worked eight years at Deutsche Bank in its Equity Capital Markets division. He was previously a securities lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell in London and New York and a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. Craig has previously served on the Board of Governors for Tower Hamlets College and the Presence Theatre. He is a recognised commentator on the financial industry, with numerous recent columns published in the Financial Times and guest appearances on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. A long time season ticket holder at Fulham Football Club, Craig co-hosts the fan podcast Cottage Talk. He holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Fenella Goodhart
Fenella is head of learning and participation at London Transport Museum. She oversees programming for schools, families and under-5’s, employability programming for young people, ticketed events for all audiences and community programming. She also manages major projects on behalf of the museum ranging across different fields including participatory practice, interpretation and new gallery developments and public programming around sustainability. She began her career in the museums and heritage sector at the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) where she worked on the introduction of the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge and advocated for the role of museum education across education, health and social care. She has also worked in learning and interpretation at the National Trust and in various roles across family, schools and community programming at Historic Royal Palaces. Fenella enjoys running, reading, theatre and coffee.

Daniel Jackson
Dan is the head of historic buildings at Historic Royal Palaces. He oversees a team of curators looking after a collection of former royal residences in London and Northern Ireland. He joined Historic Royal Palaces in 2012, initially as an assistant curator, before becoming the historic building curator for Hampton Court Palace in 2013. He began his career as an archaeologist working on major infrastructure, development, and research projects for a variety of commercial archaeological companies across the UK including Birmingham Archaeology, PCA (London), and Wessex Archaeology. Dan has a BSc in Archaeology and an MA in Landscape Archaeology.

John King
A retired barrister, John has lived in Hammersmith for 36 years. He was for many years governor of Hammersmith, Phoenix and Burlington Danes Schools, and chair or vice chair of the Friends of Furnival Gardens since its inception. He has been chair or vice chair of Ravenscroft Ward of the Labour Party for 30 years. He is currently a member of the Hammersmith Residents’ Working Party.

Matthew Pottage
Matthew is Head of Horticulture and Landscape Strategy for The Royal Parks in London and was the former Curator of the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden, Wisley. Matthew is the author of How to Garden When You Rent, the first book of its kind, aimed to inspire those without home ownership to get into gardening. Matthew is an experienced broadcaster: he is a regular panellist for BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time and supports the Chelsea Physic Garden through their Horticultural Advisory Committee. He is a local Fulham resident.

Mariana Spater
Mariana is a chartered accountant who, until recently, was managing director of Fountain Television Ltd, which was home to shows such as The X Factor. She has served as chair and board member for a number of charities and not-for-profit organisations over many years, including chair of the Royal Surgical Aid Society from 2010 to 2014. Mariana is currently chair of the M&S Energy Society and on the board of Wey Valley Solar, both of which seek to utilise  solar power for the benefit of stakeholders and local communities. She is currently Finance Director of the charity Fine Cell Work.

Fulham Palace would like to acknowledge the support of Nurole in advertising and recruiting for our recent Trustee positions.

Company secretary and chief executive officer

Siân Harrington
Siân joined Fulham Palace Trust in November 2011. She holds a degree in Anthropology, an MA in Museum Studies and an MBA. She has been working in museums and heritage since her first role as a volunteer collections assistant at Durham University Oriental Museum in 1986. Previous roles have included ten years as a property manager in the National Trust, and as a curator and heritage development manager in local authority museums. Sian lives in Hackney and tries to find time for yoga, travelling and enjoying good food and wine.

Annual report and accounts for Fulham Palace Trust

• 2023 – 24 Annual report and signed accounts for Fulham Palace Trust
• 2022 – 23 Annual report and signed accounts for Fulham Palace Trust
• 2021 – 22 Annual report and signed accounts for Fulham Palace Trust
• 2020 – 21 Annual report and signed accounts for Fulham Palace Trust
• 2019 – 20 Annual report and signed accounts for Fulham Palace Trust