National Trust welcomes new leader in the East
Old Harveian Ben Cowell has taken the reins of the country’s leading conservation charity in the East. Ben, who was most recently in charge of the charity’s policy and external affairs work, has returned to his roots to lead a team of over 500 staff and 5,000 volunteers.
Ben said; “I am delighted to be taking up this role, which is easily the best job in the National Trust! I have loved the people and landscapes of the East of England for as long as I can remember. After leaving The Harvey, I studied as an undergraduate at UEA in Norwich, where I specialised in landscape archaeology at the Centre of East Anglian Studies. I now live just outside Saffron Walden in Essex, with my wife Julie and our two boys, Reuben and Toby.”
“The National Trust looks after wonderful places, wildlife, collections, community spaces and heritage for the benefit of everyone. Here in the East that includes miles of glorious coastline from Blakeney in North Norfolk to Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast, important houses like Blickling, Ickworth and Wimpole, and really special countryside including one of the nation’s most ancient woodlands at Hatfield Forest in Essex.”
For many years Ben was a civil servant at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London, before joining the National Trust’s external affairs team in 2008. Prior to attending the Harvey, Ben was at All Souls’ Primary school in Cheriton. His parents (father David was a school governor at Harvey) live in Sandgate.