Alistair Hardaker
Image: Salford Lads Club (cc-by-sa-2.0 Rept0n1x)
Heritage at Risk Fund awards grants to restore historic buildings in disadvantaged communities, creating jobs and cultural spaces from Grimsby to Penzance.
Thirty-seven heritage sites across England will receive funding through the government’s Heritage at Risk Fund to support essential repair works and conservation projects. The grants, totalling more than £15m, form part of the £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund announced earlier this year.
The funding programme has prioritised projects serving disadvantaged communities whilst demonstrating measurable local benefits including job creation and cultural programming. Recipients include Unseen Arts in Grimsby, MusicAbility Centre in Penzance and two Grade II listed buildings on Newcastle’s Byker Wall Estate.
Burslem Indoor Market in Stoke on Trent is the largest single recipient of the funding, receiving £1,000,000. In 2003, the market permanently closed its doors after falling masonry from the ceiling rendered it unsafe for shoppers.
Unseen Arts will receive over £430,000 to establish a creative community centre within Grimsby’s historic docks. The project involves repairing and converting two unlisted historic buildings in the Kasbah conservation area, transforming structures within what was formerly the world’s largest fishing port. The centre will offer movement classes, visual arts workshops, exhibitions, performances and a café whilst creating local employment opportunities.
The MusicAbility Centre in Penzance has been awarded more than £400,000 for the complete restoration of an 1828 building. Once restored, the facility will operate 250 days annually, providing music lessons, therapy sessions and regular concerts. The centre aims to ensure young people have access to music education and performance opportunities through inclusive programming.
In Newcastle, two Grade II listed Hobby Rooms on the Byker Wall Estate will receive more than £98,000. Karbon Homes will convert the Spires Lane facility into a community hub, whilst St Michael’s Mount will become an artist’s studio. These buildings formed part of architect Ralph Erskine’s 1960s social housing design intended to promote community interaction.
Lou Brennan, director of regions at Historic England said: “Thanks to the extra funding from the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, we are able to breathe new life into neglected historic buildings that we haven’t been able to help through our existing grant schemes. This initiative will not only boost economic growth but also create amazing opportunities for people in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged areas.
“We’re thrilled to support projects that harness the power of heritage to make a real difference where it’s needed most.”
Full list of recipients receiving a share of the fund
North East
Woodhorn Colliery Shaft Heads, Ashington, Northumberland – £997,265
Byker Estate Hobby Rooms, Newcastle upon Tyne – £98,735
Tyre Shop, Sunderland, 177 High St West, Sunderland – £858,208
St Michael’s Mount Artist’s Studio, Newcastle – £42,047
Yorkshire
St Catherine of Siena, Sheffield – £497,615
St John’s Church, Goole, East Yorkshire – £100,000
North West
Salford Lads Club, Greater Manchester – £437,961
Gawthorpe Great Barn, Burnley. Lancashire – £337,975
Morecambe Winter Gardens, Lancashire – £767,222
Tullie House, Carlisle, Cumbria – £200,000
National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
Gosforth Public Hall, Seascale, Cumbria – £424,785
East of England
Lowestoft Town Hall, Suffolk – £707,000
St George’s Guildhall and Creative Hub, King’s Lynn, Norfolk – £721,330
The Iron Duke Public House, Great Yarmouth – £136,500
Laurel Court, Peterborough – £136,653
Chapelfield Gardens Bandstand, Norwich – £315,249
Greenland Fishery House, King’s Lynn – £99,442
Midlands
Golden Lion, Birmingham – £344,265
Worksop Priory Gatehouse, Nottinghamshire – £178,147
Burslem Indoor Market, Stoke on Trent – £1,000,000
Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Stoke on Trent – £521,737
St Mary Magdalene, Newark-on-Trent – £151,163
Corporation Bridge, Grimsby – £495,000
Bromwich Manor House, Sandwell – £200,000
Spilsby Sessions House, Lincolnshire – £1,006,000
Unseen Arts, Grimsby – £437,741
London & South East
Treadgolds, Portsea, Portsmouth – £485,200
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Somers Town, London – £639,064
The Greenhouse Centre, London – £663,100
South West
Market House (Grade I), Penzance Regeneration Company – £672,707
Newlyn’s Old Harbour (Grade II*), Newlyn Harbour – £199,301
Gaumont Cinema, Nudge Community Builders – £253,494
Toll House at Birnbeck Pier (Grade II), North Somerset Council – £111,496
Turkish Baths Health Hydro, Swindon – £550,218
The Folk Pin Factory (Grade II), Gloucester Civic Trust – £142,871
MusicAbility Centre (Grade II), MusicAbility Foundation – £402,000
