The board of trustees currently meets four times a year, at one of our buildings in Lavenham, Pakenham or Thelnetham.

We are constantly on the look-out for experts in various fields, who can help us in the following areas:

  • Finance and fundraising
  • Law
  • Health and Safety
  • Public Relations and Social Media
  • Website maintenance
  • Archiving

We know that being a trustee does not appeal to everyone, so we are only too happy for volunteers to help in capacity as advisors.

Piers Hart Chairman

Piers Hart has been Chairman of Historic Suffolk (formerly SBPT) since 2016. He is a member of the Society for the  Protection of Ancient Buildings since 1965 and a member and former trustee of the Suffolk Preservation Society since 1979. He is a campaigner and activist for the preservation of, East Anglia’s natural and built heritage.

Professional career: cabinet maker and designer.

Interests: old buildings, historic vehicles, sailing, bee-keeping, languages, wine, cooking.

Roy Proctor Treasurer

Roy Proctor was born and raised in Suffolk, before attending the University of Salford where he gained a BSc in Electronics.

He is Chartered Engineer, and also has a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). On graduating from university, he worked in the electronics manufacturing industry before being commissioned as a Royal Air Force Engineering Officer. Later he ran a computer systems company in Ipswich, and was a mentor at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.

He is a past Chairman of Bury St Edmunds Round Table and was Chairman of the PTA at Thurston Upper School (now Thurston Community College).

Before becoming a Trustee and Treasurer of Historic Suffolk he was, for a number of years, a Trustee and Treasurer of the Bury Society. Together with his wife Ann they live in Bury St Edmunds and enjoy The Theatre Royal, cinema, playing Bridge and socialising with friends.

Roy is also a painter, striving to be an artist! His picture is a self-portrait.

Graham Panton

Graham Panton has been a volunteer guide at Little Hall for over 20 years, on the management committee for much of that time and its chairman since 2017.

Owning an old timber frame building for nearly 40 years gave a practical insight into understanding and maintaining older buildings and subsequently he converted a 19th century folly into a sustainable dwelling.

Skills acquired in a 50-year career as an engineer in telecommunications and computers have been applied to the museum’s systems and to the digitisation of its collection records as well as the management of its website. He has been on the committee of the Hadleigh Society for over 40 years, variously as chair, secretary, newsletter editor and website manager.

John Knight

When we were in our early 20’s and in a moment of madness, my wife, Lynne, and I bought a semi derelict property in Coggeshall described by the estate agent as Georgian. The work required to make it a comfortable place to live included re-roofing, re-plumbing and the installation of central heating, a complete re-wire and new windows and doors. In carrying out the renovations we quickly realised that the house must be older than described. After much investigation and an evening course run by Anglia Ruskin in Chelmsford, we thought that the house could have originally been an Aisled Hall, later confirmed by the council with our listing upgraded to Grade 2*. This started a lifetimes interest in vernacular architecture.

Since retiring from a career in IT and previously banking, and having moved to Lavenham I have been fortunate to become involved in running Little Hall, Lavenham and from there becoming a Trustee of Historic Suffolk. Previous to this, I had helped to run a small social club in Coggeshall after they found themselves in financial trouble and about to sell their listed property. A quick review of the way the business had been run lead to a couple of committee members resigning and a new committee appointed. That was over 40 years ago and I am please to say, the club – and the building – are still thriving.

My wife and I enjoy traveling, we are members of both English Heritage and the National Trust and while my wife is a very keen gardener, I prefer walking – and motorcycling! We also have two grandchildren to keep us on our toes.

Brian Aket

Brian Aket MA FRGS has been a volunteer at Pakenham Water Mill for over twenty years. Since 2014 he has been chairman of its management committee and a Trustee of Historic Suffolk.

In his professional life Brian was a headteacher in four different schools for over thirty years, and later was a consultant on a government-led school leadership scheme and a part time tutor in the Faculty of Education of Cambridge University.

Away from professional responsibilities, he has always involved himself in community activities as parish councillor and school governor. He has a keen interest in vintage motors, being a committee member of at least three vintage motoring clubs.

He is married to Ann with daughters and grandchildren.

Tim Buxbaum

Tim Buxbaum is a chartered architect who has been based in Suffolk for much of his career. Following a scholarship from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings he established his own practice in 1999 near Woodbridge and has worked across East Anglia on conservation projects involving castles, churches, mills, country houses, follies and Scheduled Monuments, rescuing a number from the “at risk” register, as well as writing on related subjects and designing new buildings. He is married with two sons and enjoys travelling and exploring our local rivers by kayak.