Welcome to Westbury Town Council

A little history

The Laverton Building was commissioned and paid for by Abraham Laverton, an important local mill-owner and social philanthropist who donated several amenities to Westbury (including Westbury Swimming Pool & Prospect Square).

The celebrated architect William Jarvis Stent designed the Laverton in the Venetian Gothic style. The foundation stones were laid in 1873 and the building was completed in 1874.

A charitable trust known as the ‘Laverton Institute’ was established in 1886, with the aim of providing recreational & cultural facilities for the town and its inhabitants. In 1905, another charity was established and ‘The Laverton Institute School’ took over part of the lower floor of the building.

Both charities were merged in 1977 under the title ‘The Laverton Institute’ with the aim of ‘provision and maintenance of a community centre for the use of the inhabitants of the town of Westbury’

The building has a Grade 2* Conservation Listing.