Plans to create a new wing at Birmingham Museum and Gallery (BMAG), dedicated to the city's history, have been handed a £4.8m boost as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) 15th anniversary celebrations.
Initial support has also been pledged by the funding organisation towards schemes at Penarth Pavilion, South Wales; Colchester Castle in Essex; Torre Abbey, Devon and the Charles Dickens Museum, London, as well as plans for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
HLF chair Dame Jenny Abramsky said: "I can think of no more fitting way of celebrating 15 years of the Heritage Lottery Fund than by supporting some of our most precious heritage, from Stonehenge and Colchester Castle to Charles Dickens."
The confirmed grant for BMAG will help fund the £9.7m Birmingham - A City In The Making scheme, which will lead to the creation of a new wing of galleries to look at the history and development of the city.
More than 1,000sq m (10,764sq ft) will house the Birmingham History Collections at the museum, which has been at the centre of a joint bid to acquire the 'Staffordshire Hoard' - the largest amount of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found in the UK - along with Stoke on Trent City Council.
Meanwhile, the Charles Dickens Museum will net a £99,000 development grant to help fund a bid for £1.77m, which will help finance the transformation and expansion of the attraction's display areas in a bid to improve visitor experience.
"Charles Dickens is one of this country's literary greats whose writing has continued to resonate with readers for nearly two centuries," said Abramsky.
Nearly £100,000 of development funding has been awarded to Penarth Pavilion in order to help develop a bid for £1.63m, which will go towards a scheme to restore the Grade II-listed structure as a focal point for community and heritage activities.
Colchester Castle has been handed £265,000 to develop a bid for £1.87m towards the refurbishment of the Norman building and its exhibits, while Torre Abbey's bid for £2.95m has been boosted by £124,000 development funding. Plans include the restoration of the 800-year-old former monastery.
A bid for £4.95m towards the construction of a new visitor centre at Stonehenge has also received initial support from the HLF, which has invested £4bn in a range of UK heritage projects since the start of the National Lottery in 1995.
Abramsky added: "Over that time, our £4bn investment has made a huge impact on the landscape of the UK's heritage, meaning there's much to celebrate."
Image: Dame Jenny Abramsky (left) and actress Miriam Margoyles looking at a rare copy of Great Expectations at the Charles Dickens Museum - Dave Lee/HLF
