Areas, buildings and monuments | The National Lottery Heritage Fund

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People walking up steps to a castle with turret

Lincoln Castle. Credit: Colin McLean Photography

Safeguarding our historic buildings, monuments and archaeology for future generations.

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £3.3billion to more than 10,300 area, historic building and monument projects across the UK. See stories from projects we've funded below.

We provide grants for heritage projects from £10,000–£10million to ensure that heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

These projects can help to sustain jobs, support economic growth and protect heritage at risk. They can also bolster local pride, nurture traditional craft skills and help communities enjoy and make use of the places they care about.

What do we support?

Projects we fund include:

investment in places of worship
conservation and repairs to historic buildings and places
finding appropriate new uses for historic buildings
community archaeology projects

Places of worship

Places of worship are among the UK’s oldest and most cherished historic buildings. We want to help congregations become truly resilient and their buildings genuinely sustainable.

Places of worship we fund

Project ideas

Our funding could help people:

repair and transform a historic building at the heart of their community
help volunteers learn building conservation skills
rescue a building on a Buildings at Risk register
undertake a community archaeology project
regenerate a historic town centre or high street
look after and learn about a local war memorial

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

Find out more and apply

The interior of Aberdeen Music Hall

The revamped interior of Aberdeen Music Hall

News

Curtain rises on Aberdeen's transformed Music Hall

Thanks to funding raised by players of the National Lottery, the 200-year-old venue now has modern facilities and new spaces including a creative learning studio, café and bar, relocated box office and a new performance space. After significant excavations, three new lifts have been installed to

14/12/2018

National Lottery support keeps memories of Tiger Bay burning bright

News

National Lottery support keeps memories of Tiger Bay burning bright

Thanks to National Lottery funding, a new project will look at the history of Tiger Bay through the eyes of people who came from across the world to work in Cardiff.

13/12/2018

Person kneeling in outdoors space whilst smiling

Caroline, volunteer at Florence Court

Projects

Restoring Florence Court’s kitchen garden to its former glory

The historic two acre kitchen garden, nestled inside the countryside estate in County Fermanagh, will be carefully restored to its original 1930s character thanks to National Lottery funding.

14/03/2017

Yr Ysgwrn

Yr Ysgwrn

News

Home of First World War poet marks double celebration

Yr Ysgwrn, the former home of famous First World War poet Hedd Wyn, has just won a RICS award for building conservation as well as securing museum accreditation for the first time.

23/11/2018

Distyllfa Penderyn ar safle gweithfeydd copr Hafod Morfa

Argraff artist o'r Ddistyllfa Penderyn arfaethedig yn safle gweithfeydd copr hanesyddol Hafod Morfa Abertawe.

News

Breathing new life into Swansea’s old copperworks

Swansea's former Hafod Morfa Copperworks site will be transformed thanks to £3.5million from the National Lottery.

09/11/2018

Community and volunteers at photography exhition

Community and volunteers at photography exhibition.

Projects

The preservation of the Melton Old Church collection of WW1 grave markers

This project focused on conserving Melton Old Church’s nationally important collection of 10 First World War grave markers while helping people connect with the heritage of the village during the conflict.

09/03/2017

Turret Clock

Badwell Ash Parochial Church led this project to restore the historic turret clock at St Mary’s Church

Projects

Historic turret clock restored at St Mary's Church, Badwell Ash

Badwell Ash Parochial Church led this project to restore the historic turret clock at St Mary’s Church.

08/09/2016

A group of people with gloves and buckets standing in front of a church wall

A group of people with gloves and buckets standing in front of a church wall

Projects

Teaching traditional building repair skills to church volunteers

Volunteers developed skills to help them maintain their historic places of worship into the future without relying on professional contractors.

31/08/2016

Project participants at Kingussie Parish Church

Project participants at Kingussie Parish Church

Projects

Restoration of historical pipe organ

Kingussie Parish Church have restored their historic pipe organ, bringing it back to its original operational condition.

25/07/2016

The community making use of the new spaces in St Mary's church

Projects

St Mary's Church Goosnargh Heritage and Community Hub in partnership with Goosnargh Whittingham Heritage Group

Preserving the heritage of St Mary's church through community engagement and capital building work.

01/06/2016

A derelict building

Projects

A way forward for historic building trusts charity

A charity which supports the rescue and sustainable use of historic buildings across the UK had help from us in becoming fit for the future.

18/03/2015

Children listening to a talk about the archaeological site

Children listening to a talk about the archaeological site

Projects

Excavating a newly discovered Bronze Age burial mound

Following the unexpected discovery of a Late Bronze Age tanged chisel and knife blade, a rapid archaeological assessment identified the site as an extremely rare, intact Bronze Age burial mound at Bolton-le-Sands.

30/11/2015