Areas, buildings and monuments

Areas, buildings and monuments

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.

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.

Raikes Road Burial Ground
Raikes Road Burial Ground

Projects

Restoration of Raikes Road Burial Ground

The Friends of Raikes Road Burial Ground reconnected people with the wildlife and local stories housed in the burial ground.

People restore a windmill
Volunteers prepare to install the tailpole on the windmill

Projects

Argos Hill windmill restoration project

A Grade 2* listed windmill at Mayfield in East Sussex has been saved and restored as a local landmark visible for miles.

Volunteers worked with the local school children to learn about woodcarving.
Volunteers worked with the local school children to learn about woodcarving

Projects

Sandford Heritage and Community Project

The Parish Church Council (PCC) of the Grade I St Swithun’s Church has made better use of the space beneath the 17th-century gallery by converting it into a heritage and community room.

the inner courtyard of the Back to Backs
© National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Projects

Back to Backs: People to People

This unique historic attraction gives visitors an opportunity to see how ordinary people lived in 19th-century Birmingham.

St Patrick's Church, Gateshead

Projects

Restoration of St Patrick's stone steps

This project restored the stone steps of St Patrick's Church in Gateshead, re-instating the main access route into the church and the Parish rooms.

A tea meetup in Darsham
A tea meetup in Darsham

Projects

Darsham Forward 2013

All Saints Church, Darsham carried out urgent structural repairs and went from being a cold formal space to a vital community hub.

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