Areas, buildings and monuments
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.
News
Grant puts Postal Museum on track
The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is pleased to announce today that it has been awarded £4.5m by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), putting delivery of a subterranean ride on Mail Rail – the old Post Office Underground Railway – on track. HLF’s grant is a major vote of confidence in the BPMA
News
£4.85million for the National Museum of Scotland
The grant goes towards a £14.1million project which will create ten new galleries displaying National Museums Scotland’s internationally important collections of Science and Technology and Art and Design. The new galleries will open in 2016. Confirmation of this major award means that over
News
Major development project at Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral is excited to announce that it has secured development funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the first phase of a major 10-year capital project. Project Pilgrim Phase One: the Heart of Gloucester aims to celebrate the cathedral’s heritage by revealing stories about
News
Full steam ahead for Kirkwall regeneration project
The Kirkwall Townscape Heritage Initiative will run from this autumn for five years until 2019. Under the scheme, grants will be made available within the Kirkwall Conservation Area for: historic repairs and reinstatement to private properties bringing vacant properties back into use for economic
News
HLF supporting a new chapter for Hay Castle
Heritage and literature can often link together powerfully and beautifully. At the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) the synergy between word and place often makes a convincing case for funding projects where buildings or landscapes resonate with the written word to create something really special. Such
News
Grant awarded to Sir John Soane’s London ‘party house’
One of London’s architectural treasures will be fully restored following today’s announcement of a major grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Pitzhanger Manor House, the personal ‘dream home’ created in the early years of the 19th century by one of Britain’s greatest architects, Sir John Soane, will
News
Love Barrow, Love Heritage
Over the past 20 years, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has invested £8m into conserving Barrow’s heritage and helping local people explore their past. Sara Hilton, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “Barrow-in-Furness is packed to the rafters with some wonderful heritage. From
News
Beamish Museum looking forward to the 1950s
Over the next five years the popular Living Museum that tells the story of everyday working life will be transformed, creating new ways for people to enjoy the heritage of the North East. The centrepiece will be a ‘new’ 1950s Town and Farm, filled with objects and buildings donated by local people
News
Conisbrough Castle reopens its doors
Following a £1.1m renovation project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), English Heritage and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC), the statement castle built by Hamelin de Warenne, half brother to King Henry II, and the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, re-opened its doors
News
Canterbury Cathedral celebrates!
Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced earmarked funding worth £72million for six major sites in England: Canterbury Cathedral, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and a World Heritage Site Nottingham Castle, backdrop to some of England’s most powerful folk stories Bath Abbey, one
News
£12.8m to bring Plymouth's legends to life at major new attraction
Plymouth is celebrating a truly historic moment after scooping earmarked funding of £12.8million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to create a major new historic and cultural attraction at the very heart of the city. The HLF today announced the results of its major grants (applications of £5m and
News
Kelvingrove Bandstand has opened!
The bandstand has undergone a major £2.1million transformation by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life, and will proudly be showcased to key stakeholders at Thursday’s launch event. This event will mark the (re)opening of this Glasgow landmark