The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced £30m of funding towards 10 diverse projects across the length and breadth of the UK.
The former North British Rubber Company HQ in Edinburgh, birthplace of the Wellington boot, was the big winner during this round of funding, gaining initial support of £4.9m, including a development grant of £500,000.
The site at Castle Mills will be regenerated as a creative hub for Edinburgh, turning the listed building into a modern visual arts centre incorporating a printmakers, art centre, cafe and a learning centre.
St Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire received the second-highest amount of funding, receiving initial support of £4.2m, including a development grant of £391,800. The funding will allow the cathedral, which has been a site of continuous worship and pilgrimage for over 1,700 years, to undergo much-needed conservation work.
The shrine of St Amphibalus, the priest who converted Alban to Christianity will be restored and a comprehensive education and events programme is also planned. The project will create new learning spaces for both children and adults, as well as a new welcome centre to ensure better facilities for all visitors will be built.
Bristol’s Underfall Yard Project has gained a grant of £3m to enable the Underfall Yard Trust to create a Maritime Centre of Excellence in Bristol Harbour. Dating from the early 1800s, plans include new opportunities for maritime businesses and training to flourish, much-improved access for the public and the conversion of the former boiler room into ’The Power House’ learning centre.
HMS Warrior – the Royal Navy’s first iron-hulled warship – will receive essential repairs to replace the bulwarks and water bar on both sides of the upper deck at its home in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Initial support of £2.6m for the repairs includes a development grant of £89,000.
On the nature side of the HLF, Polli:Nation – a UK-wide biodiversity project – gained initial support of £1.3m, including a development grant of £26,000, with the project aiming to engage 260 schools to help transform their grounds into pollinator-friendly habitats for the country’s bees.
The Accentuate History of Place project will involve large numbers of volunteers, including disabled people, to tell the hidden history of disability in the UK in relation to sites of historic importance. Organisers Screen South will receive initial support of £875,900, and a development grant of £77,600.
Highcliffe Castle in Christchurch, Dorset, will gain initial support of £2.9m, with a development grant of £233,100 as it undergoes essential development work while Brackley Town Hall – a historic building in the centre of the Northamptonshire market town – will be restored and put back to use as a community facility – with initial support of £2.3m, including a development grant of £100,500.
Finally, Newcastle University’s Grade II listed Hatton Gallery will gain initial support of £2.5m, including a development grant of £154,000 to turn the site into a major cultural and education resource for the North East.
Carole Souter, chief executive of HLF, said: “Heritage has huge potential to excite and inspire and this funding will definitely deliver both in spades. It’s great news that HLF is able to support such a wide breadth of heritage projects, from protecting our vital insect life to transforming much-loved historic buildings and passing on heritage boatbuilding skills for future generations.”
