The United Kingdom government has announced more than £41m in funding to restore 74 historic buildings, including churches, synagogues, town halls, market halls and castles across England.
The investment, announced on Thursday by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Historic England and Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross, will be delivered through the Places of Worship Renewal Fund and the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund.
The two schemes form part of the government’s wider £1.5bn Arts Everywhere Fund and are intended to support historic buildings requiring repairs and conservation work.
According to the announcement, 51 places of worship will share more than £18m through the Places of Worship Renewal Fund, while nearly £13m will support 20 projects under the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund.
An additional £10m across the remainder of the current parliament will support major restoration projects at three national heritage sites: Dover Castle, Brodsworth Hall in Doncaster and Osborne, Queen Victoria’s former family residence on the Isle of Wight.
The announcement followed a visit by Twycross to Margate and Ramsgate, where funding is supporting the restoration of the Grade II listed Margate Museum and Old Town Hall, as well as urgent repairs to the Church of St George in Ramsgate.
The Heritage Minister said the funding would help preserve historic buildings that serve communities across England.
“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.”
Among the places of worship selected for funding are Birmingham Cathedral, the Church of St Elwyn in Hayle, Cornwall, and the Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue in Grimsby.
The planned works at Birmingham Cathedral will address deterioration affecting its tower and dome, while repairs at the Church of St Elwyn will include masonry work, new rainwater systems and restoration of interior decorations and building fabric.
The funding for the Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue will support restoration work on the structure of the ark inside the late nineteenth-century building, described in the announcement as the only remaining synagogue in Lincolnshire and South Humberside.
Under the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, the Margate Museum and Old Town Hall will receive support for major structural repairs intended to facilitate community use, improve public access and protect the museum’s collections.
