New funding in 2025 saving seven lesser-known UK heritage treasures
- From awakening Edinburgh’s Architectural Masterpiece on Calton Hill, dormant for over 50 years, to transforming former offices for the Sheffield United Gas Light Company into a new vibrant and visible home for young musicians, called Harmony Works in Sheffield
- Saving ‘Jumbo’ the last intact listed water tower from the ‘Golden Age’ of industrial water engineering in Colchester and reopening the Palais de Danse in St Ives to visitors for the first time in 65 years – revealing a 300-year story linking British art history through the work of Barbara Hepworth and the buildings significance to the local community
- Transforming deteriorating historic buildings, like Kingsley Hall in Bristol, helping young people at risk of homelessness to develop new skills and opportunities for employment, and Marchwell Studios creating affordable, accessible creative spaces, inspiring people facing barriers to employment – building on the site’s history as the birthplace of art therapy
- Over its thirty-year history The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £9.2bn to more than 52,000 projects across the UK – as is the largest grant funder of the UK’s heritage
Today, Tuesday 14 January, The National Lottery Heritage Fund announces over £27m funding, saving lesser known yet exceptional heritage gems across the UK.
The seven newly funded projects span the UK from Bristol to Belfast and Edinburgh to Essex, saving outstanding architecture and much-loved local buildings at significant risk. Through this investment each project will add to the cultural, musical, social and educational wellbeing of young people in their communities, providing a new lease of life for buildings and contributing positively to places across the UK.
Today’s announcement coincides with Heritage Treasures Day, that spotlights the diverse range of heritage projects across the UK which have been saved thanks to funding from National Lottery players over the last 30 years.
A bold project to save Edinburgh’s Old Royal High School, an architectural masterpiece and a defining feature of Calton Hill, has been given the green light for National Lottery Heritage Fund support of up to £5m.
The iconic building designed by Greek-revivalist architect Thomas Hamilton was built in the 1820’s as the home the Royal High School, one of the oldest schools in Scotland, securing Edinburgh’s reputation as the ‘Athens of the North’ – a statement of the ambitions of both the school and of Scotland as a nation. Vacant and at risk for over 50 years since the relocation of the school, the building is now at the heart of an ambitious restoration and transformation project, creating a new future as a venue and catalyst for music and culture in Scotland’s capital.
Hitting a high note in Sheffield, £4.7M will support the restoration ofthe Grade II* Listed Canada House in Castlegate. Originally built in 1875 as offices for theSheffield United Gas Light Company, the building is set to be transformed into a vibrant new visible home for young musicians called Harmony Works.
The project will ensure equitable access to a comprehensive range of inspiring musical practice and education facilities, enriching the lives and futures of young people and their communities across the region. Restoration of the currently unused building will offer a range of inspiring practice, rehearsal, and performance spaces and facilities that are not available in a single location elsewhere in the region.
It will become the new home for Sheffield Music Academy and Sheffield Hub, as well as a base for many organisations, including Brass Bands England, Music in the Round, Choir with No Name, Orchestras for All and Concerteenies, while also supporting the University of Sheffield’s music department and The Sheffield College.
Affectionately known in Colchester as Jumbo, the last intact listed water tower from a ‘Golden Age’ of industrial water engineering proudly stands at 131ft tall. Constructed using 1.2m locally produced bricks, it was built to hold 1,000 tons of clean water. An £8m grant award will restore and convert the Grade II* Listed Jumbo Water Tower making it accessible to the public for the first time as a heritage and events space.
Closed to the public for 65 years, the historic Palais de Danse, has been awarded £2.8m, to open the building for the community and visitors to St, Ives.
Grade II* Listed, it retains features from its former uses as a cinema and dance hall in the early 1900s and its time as Dame Barbara Hepworth’s second studio between 1961 and 1975.
The project will create an immersive recreation of the artist’s workshop spaces alongside areas for ‘making’ that inspire creative skills development.
The Palais was given to Tate by members of the artist’s family in 2015, with a covenant protecting three elements, which this project will preserve: the floor for the armature of Hepworth’s Single Form, the 24m long maple sprung dance hall floor, and a set of glassine doors designed by Hepworth.
Grade II* Listed Kingsley Hall sits in Bristol’s Old Market and will be receiving funding of £4.7m. Surrounded by 60 other listed buildings, it developed from a medieval marketplace into a focal point for the city’s promotion of social change on issues including workers’ pay and conditions, women’s rights and the Suffragette movement. The building will be renovated giving the youth homelessness charity 1625 Independent People the opportunityto create a place of opportunity for young people developing their skills, building relationships, and strengthening their sense of identity and belonging.
Restoring and converting the former Marchwell Stables of the West Sussex County Asylum, later renamed Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, with its history as the birthplace of art therapy, is made possible with a £1.3m grant. The Marchwell Studios project will create affordable and accessible creative and makers spaces, including five studios to support startups, full sized studios to help established creatives, workshop space for youth and community training programmes, and a community training studio protecting at-risk crafts and skills to promote wellbeing and mental health.
Ninety years after first opening during the golden age of cinema, work is underway to redevelop Strand Cinema, Northern Ireland’s last remaining art deco picture house. Fittingly found on the Holywood Road in Belfast, a £768K grant award to Belfast City Council, ensures the much-loved picture house will continue to be treasured by people across Northern Ireland.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, 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. From a monumental Victorian water tower in Colchester and an iconic architectural landmark within Edinburgh’s World Heritage site, to Kingsley Hall in Bristol’s Old Market – we are working with those who care for heritage, transforming historic gems and positively adding to wellbeing and educational opportunities for young people, making heritage the focus of communities, places and the UK economy.
“Thanks to money raised from National Lottery players over the last 30 years, we have awarded £3.3bn to more than 10,300 historic building and monument projects for the long-term, helping to ensure heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.”
Carol Nimmo, Chair of Royal High School Preservation Trust, said: “This project will create a unique environment unlike anything else in Edinburgh at the moment. It will preserve the history and heritage of one of the city and nation’s most prestigious buildings, giving it a re-birth fitting for 21st century city residents and visitors.
“The redevelopment will create a National Centre for Music encompassing three performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, interpretation and learning spaces, while a new café and public landscaped gardens with stunning views across the city will provide an unparalleled cultural experience. We look forward to welcoming around 290,000 visitors every year.”
David Hobson, Chair of Harmony Works Trust, said: “We are incredibly grateful to The National Heritage Lottery Fund for supporting our vision for Harmony Works. The funding is another crucial milestone for the project and will go towards the restoration of the stunning Canada House, preserving this iconic heritage building in Sheffield for decades to come. Once refurbished, the building will become an energetic new music hub for the region, creating an inclusive space that inspires musical exploration and creativity, and enriches the lives and futures of young people and their communities.”
Simon Hall MBE, Chair of Colchester North East Essex Heritage, said: “This breathtaking support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund is a game changer for our project and our city. It will enable us to save this unique piece of industrial heritage and transform the way our communities engage with Colchester’s history and future. Thanks to Lottery players, Jumbo will become a leading destination and a resource for the community, with life changing opportunities to get involved and learn skills. The funding will ensure we can inspire future generations and diverse groups, attract visitors, provide jobs and create a financially sustainable asset.”
Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured a funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Palais de Danse project. This brings us to two thirds of our fundraising goal and marks a significant milestone in our journey to transform this historic building that from 1961–75 was Barbara Hepworth’s studio where she made some of her most ambitious large-scale works. We are excited to be working towards re-imagining the Palais de Danse as a vibrant heritage site that builds on Hepworth’s remarkable legacy and actively engages our local communities.”
