Alistair Hardaker | Image: Burslem Market Hall, Queen Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent © Historic England Archive
Margate Museum, Dover Castle and Osborne among heritage sites to receive funding alongside 51 places of worship.
Nearly £13m in government funding has been announced to support 20 heritage sites in repairs and improvements.
The capital comes from the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, now in its second year and part of the £1.5bn Arts Everywhere Fund delivered by Historic England.
Recipients this year include Margate Museum and Old Town Hall in Kent, which is Grade II listed. DCMS said the funding will support structural repairs, allowing the museum to better protect and display its collections and improve public access, and see the vacant Old Town Hall adapted as a multi-functional community asset.
The former Post Office on Abingdon Street in Blackpool will receive funding for the first phase of a project to create a community-led cultural and creative hub, which will secure the building’s structure.
Other sites to receive funding include Gorton Monastery in Manchester, the Prudential Building in Oldham, Hastings Castle, The Kursaal in Southend-on-Sea and Newport Guildhall on the Isle of Wight.
The fund will also back three sites in the care of English Heritage, supported by an additional £10m. Dover Castle will receive restoration of its defensive fortifications, and Brodsworth Hall in Doncaster and Osborne will each carry out roof repairs.
Announced at the same time is The Places of Worship Renewal Fund, in its first awards. Fifty-one recipients will share over £18m, including the Church of St Elwyn in Hayle in Cornwall and Birmingham Cathedral, which will carry out restoration to combat recent deterioration of its tower and dome.
The Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue in Grimsby will receive support for restoration work on the structure of its ark, and the Church of St George in Ramsgate will carry out urgent repairs.
The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund recipients
North of England
- Gorton Monastery, Manchester
- The Prudential Building, Oldham
- Prescot Picture Palace
- Shildon Railway Institute
- Former Post Office, Abingdon Street, Blackpool
- 8 & 9 Church Street, Hartlepool
Yorkshire and the Humber
- Grimbarians Studios, Grimsby
Midlands
- Burslem Market Hall and Retail Units, Stoke-on-Trent
- Bretby Art Pottery Showroom, Woodville
East of England
- Bourne Mill, Colchester
- The Kursaal, Southend-on-Sea
- Sommerfeld & Thomas Warehouse, King’s Lynn
London & South East
- Hastings Castle
- Wymering Manor, Portsmouth
- Newport Guildhall, Isle of Wight
South West
- The Pin Factory, Gloucester
- The Fleece Hotel, Gloucester
- The Moor Imagination Centre at Buckfastleigh Methodist Church
- Banqueting Hall and East Tower – Oldway Mansion, Torbay
Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross said: “Nothing tells the stories of our nation quite like the historic buildings at the heart of our communities. But too often they are a far cry from their former glory with leaking roofs and crumbling stonework.
“Thanks to this funding, the much loved buildings that fill our hometowns with character will be keeping the doors open to communities for years to come.”
The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund is worth £75 million across this parliament and the Places of Worship Renewal Fund £92 million. DCMS said a second round of recipients for each fund for the 2026/27 financial year are set to be announced at a later date. An initial round of 37 Heritage at Risk Capital Fund recipients, for 2025/26, was announced in August 2025.
