Heritage Expert Val Bott Receives Her MBE

Chair of the William Hogarth Trust is honoured for her contribution to heritage and conservation

Local resident Val Bott was honoured for her heritage and conservation work this week when she was presented with her
MBE by the Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace.

Val is particularly associated with Hogarth's House in Chiswick where she oversaw the restoration of the House. She is also chair of the William Hogarth Trust.

Left to right; Sheila O'Connell, Wyndham Westerdale, Val Bott, James Wisdom.

Val is a museum consultant and is involved in a variety of local history, heritage, and conservation groups and organisations. She is Honorary Secretary to the Thames Explorer Trust and a member of the board of the Cartoon Museum. She also edits the Newsletter of the Friends of Gunnersbury Park & Museum and co-ordinates a committee of 9 local and family history societies which holds an annual West London Local History Conference.

She was accompanied to Buckingham Palace last Wednesday by her partner James Wisdom. Her guests, who were also involved in the Hogarth House restoration, included Wyndham Westerdale, a Director of AcanthusLW Architects (Voysey House, Chiswick) who personally oversaw the conservation work on the building and Sheila O'Connell, Assistant Keeper of Prints & Drawings at the British Museum, who looks after all the Hogarth works in their collection and helped enormously with the displays at the House. Sheila is Vice-Chairman of the William Hogarth Trust.

Prior to receiving her MBE, Val commented: "I have greatly enjoyed helping to introduce William Hogarth to a wider audience and it is wonderful to be honoured this year, the 250th anniversary of his death. Being allowed to manage the refurbishment of Hogarth's House, supported by my great colleagues in the William Hogarth Trust, was a real pleasure."

November 28, 2014