What is heritage? | The National Lottery Heritage Fund

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Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. Find out more about what that could include.

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From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more – we support projects of all sizes that connect people and communities to the UK’s heritage.

Types of heritage we support

An outside view of Lincoln Castle

Areas, buildings and monuments

A women having her hair cut at a 1950s hairdressers at Beamish

Community heritage

A young women wearing head gear examining the urban landscape from a boat on a canal

Cultures and memories

Two people pulling a rope on a historic ship, with a river estuary in the background

Industrial, maritime and transport

Working at the Japanese Garden at Cowden

Landscapes, parks and nature

An archivist working inside the Black Cultural Archives

Museums, libraries and archives

Funding for heritage

We offer heritage project grants from £10,000 up to £10million.

Our decision making is centred around a framework of four investment principles: saving heritage; protecting the environment; inclusion, access and participation; and organisational sustainability.