Heritage Fund invests £27m in seven heritage sites

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is sharing £27m between seven lesser-known UK heritage sites deemed to be at significant risk.

The funding, announced today, is split between heritage sites in Belfast, Bristol, Chichester, Colchester, Cornwall, Edinburgh and Sheffield.

The largest grant is an £8m investment into Colchester’s Jumbo Water Tower, billed as the last intact water tower from the golden age of industrial water engineering in the area.

The project plans to restore the Grade II-listed building and turn it into a commercially viable and accessible heritage and events venue, opening it to the public for the first time.

Bristol-based youth homelessness charity 1625 Independent People received more than £4.7m to conserve and repair the Grade II-listed Kingsley Hall, originally built as a town house in 1706. The funding will develop the asset into a community hub, featuring new accommodation, a skills kitchen and a café.

In Sheffield, almost £4.7m has been given to Harmony Works Trust to restore the Grade-II listed Canada House, originally built in 1875.

The three-year project will see the house transformed into a space for young musicians called Harmony Works.

It will also provide a new home to Sheffield Music Academy and Sheffield Hub, be a base for organisations including Brass Bands England, Music in the Round, Choir with No Name, Orchestras for All and Concerteenies and support the University of Sheffield’s music department and Sheffield College.

Palais de Danse

Meanwhile, Tate St Ives has been given more than £2.8m to restore the Palais de Danse, a Grade-II listed former cinema and dance hall which is the former studio of artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth and has been closed for 65 years. The restoration project will preserve the historic fabric of the building while constructing a new entrance and welcome area, as well as a new two-storey workshop studio and artists residence space in the yard.

Anne Barlow, director of Tate St Ives, said the funding brings the project to two thirds of its fundraising goal, which has also been backed by several trusts, foundations and individuals.

Elsewhere, a £1.2m grant for Chichester Community Development Trust (CCDT) will transform former stables The Marchwell Studios into ‘makers spaces’, providing affordable and commercial spaces for local makers and people facing barriers to employment.

CCDT CEO Clare de Bathe said the funding enables the trust to uphold the studios’ principles of care and creativity.

“By supporting those facing barriers, we’re creating hope, building new interests and empowering individuals to find their own therapy through creativity,” de Bathe added.

And in Belfast, £768,000 has been put towards saving Northern Ireland’s only remaining art deco picture house, Strand Cinema. The restoration project is being led by Belfast City Council.

New cultural centre

And The Royal High School Preservation Trust has received £437,000 to restore The Old Royal High School in Edinburgh, which has sat dormant for over 50 years, by developing the building into a new cultural centre. NLHF has said the project could also benefit from a delivery grant of up to £5m.

Carol Nimmo, chair of the trust, said the redevelopment will create a National Centre for Music encompassing three performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, interpretation and learning spaces. “We look forward to welcoming around 290,000 visitors every year,” Nimmo added.

NLHF chief executive Eilish McGuinness said: “It is wonderful to start the new year investing in projects that are saving heritage treasures across the UK, with decades of shared memories these exceptional buildings will be repurposed for the 21st century at the centre of communities and places.

The latest NLHF investment follows £30m of grant funding delivered to 15 projects last October to coincide with the fund’s 30th anniversary.

In August 2023, the fund announced plans to invest £1bn over the next three years as part of its new 10-year strategy.