Vice President

Professor Matthew Davies

Matthew Davies is Professor of Urban History and Executive Dean of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London.

He is a specialist in the history of medieval and early modern London, and is the director of Layers of London, a digital mapping and public engagement project based at the Institute of Historical Research.

Who We Are

The Trustees of the Historic Towns Trust form the governing body of the charity and meet four times a year. They include:

The Trust's Cartographic Editor, Giles Darkes is a specialist in thematic mapping. Formerly a senior lecturer in cartography at Oxford Brookes University, he has worked with the Historic Towns Trust supervising the mapping and publishing side of the Trust's work since 2009. He has also worked on many other mapping projects including the Atlas of the World's Languages and An Historical Atlas of Oxfordshire.

The day-to-day business of the charity is co-ordinated by an Executive Steering Committe which meets about six times a year and reports to the Trustees. Current members include:

To find out about more about the Committee's terms of reference, please see our section on the Trust's Governance.

The P&P Committee co-ordinates the current projects being undertaken by the Trust and investigates new projects. It liases with the local committees responsible for each project and advises on procedures. Current members include:

In addition, the Trust's Cartographic Editor is also a co-opted member of the committee.

The COM Committee co-ordinates the public face of the Trust. It is responsible for the website, for launching our publications, for lectures and other public engagement. Current members include:

In addition, the Trust's Cartographic Editor is also a co-opted member of the committee.

The Historic Towns Trust has developed a long-standing successful arrangement of working with partner organisations to create the British Historic Towns Atlas and Town & City Historical Maps. To continue to build on this 50-year track record of publishing, the Trust welcomes new partnerships with organisations that share the Trust’s vision and mission. Find out more about the role of our Partners including how to become a Trust Partner in Our Partnerships.