The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced its latest round of grants – totalling £76.5m – to UK heritage projects.
Hull City Council and the University of Hull plan to develop a flagship building on a brownfield site – called the Hull History Centre – to house extensive archives on the area dating back to the 11th century, thanks to a £7.7m grant.
The Buxton Crescent Spa project near Buxton in Derbyshire will regenerate the listed crescent, natural baths and pump room with a £20m grant. The crescent will be fully restored and converted into a hotel with an adjoining Natural Mineral Water Spa as its central feature alongside a tourist information centre. Visitors will be able to sample Buxton’s drinking water in the pump room for free.
The Tyntesfield Victorian gothic estate near Bristol will be completely revamped. Particular emphasis will be placed on learning, volunteering and conservation of the house, its collections and surrounding land.
The Victoria & Albert’s Medieval and Renaissance Galleries in London will invest £9.75m to transform 10 galleries to provide visitors with a deeper appreciation and enjoyment of art and design from this period.
Bristol Museums & Art Gallery will use its £10.27m of lottery cash to transform the Bristol Industrial Museum into a new Museum of Bristol. This new property will tell the story of the city from medieval times through to its period as the busiest port in the 18th century and up to the present day.
A £2.8m HLF grant will help put the finishing touches on Coventry’s museum. New exhibitions and educational facilities are planned to increase the number of families and young people visiting the museum.
In Scotland, a £4.78m award will help the Summerlee Heritage Park in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, to fund a project telling the story of the area’s iron smelting, steel, coal and engineering industrial and social heritage.
The Tank Museum in Dorset will use its £9.6m grant to transform it into a military museum, bringing to life the story of the tank and its impact on our lives.
HLF chair Dame Liz Forgan said: “Many of these projects have taken time to come together but the final results will be stunning. The range of projects we are able to support illustrates our commitment to helping complex heritage projects come to fruition.”
HLF was unable to support the Mary Rose Trust’s further grant request for £13.5m to construct a new building for a Tudor warship and its related artefacts in Portsmouth.
Forgan added: “The Mary Rose is one of the most important pieces of our nation’s heritage. The trust rightly considers that such a treasure deserves a truly world-class museum to tell the story effectively. Unfortunately, the project as it currently stands is not yet considered capable of delivering that vision. Details: www.hlf.org.uk
Photograph: The Devonshire Hunting Tapestry at the V&A’s Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
