Legacy of Civic Trust’s chairman honoured in historic city he loved

And John Shannon, a former chairman of the York Civic Trust, has been recognised in the city of his birth with a plaque on the building where we worked as a lawyer.

Mr Shannon passed away two years ago, but his legacy continues to live on. The plaque was unveiled on Friday by the current chairman, Peter Addyman, on 18, Blake Street, where Mr Shannon worked as a lawyer for Munby & Scott from 1935 to 2001.

The former Archbishop of York, the Very Rev David Hope, paid tribute to Mr Shannon, and said: “I know that I am richer for having known him as I know many others will be – not simply for his encyclopaedic knowledge, but also for his sensitivity of judgment, the ready gift of friendship and, not least, that twinkle in the eye when he knew he was about to say something controversial.”

Mr Shannon was heralded as one of the most influential figures in protecting the heritage of York after he was appointed as the trust’s chairman in the early 1960s.

He led the trust for the intervening for 38 years and achieved both national and international recognition for its work.

A European Architectural Heritage award in 1975 was made for “the outstanding contribution to conservation made by York Civic Trust in its single-minded pursuit of the preservation and enhancement of the City of York”.

Two of his proudest achievements were the restoration of Fairfax House in 1984 and the closure of Deangate to vehicles in 1989.