At our June Trustee meeting, we were delighted to award 15 grants coming to a total of £242,000 from our Preservation and Conservation programme. Below we share a little about each grant and its purpose.
Annan The History Town Group in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland aims to preserve and promote Annan’s history by organising historical events, educational programmes and community projects.
The group has permission to restore and preserve the Motte and Bailey, a 12th century scheduled monument which is currently in a state of neglect.
Our grant of £10,000 will be used for vegetation clearance and pathway restoration to prevent further deterioration and enable conservation volunteers and maintenance teams safer access to the site. This will help to secure the future of this historic monument and increase community access to it.
The Archbishop’s Palace in Otford, Kent was built in 1514. All that remains today is part of the North Range – including the North West corner tower. The palace was at one time owned by Henry VIII, but this scheduled ancient monument is now on the Heritage at Risk Register.
Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust, which cares for the Tudor Palace has raised funds to stabilise and glaze the tower. The next phase of works includes repairing the roof, rerouting the rainwater downpipe, reinstating the missing floors and creating a small interpretation space. Our grant of £10,000 is for archaeological investigations to inform the plans, helping to secure the future of this historic building.
Ballinderry Hall is the only remaining WW1 community war memorial in Northern Ireland. Officially opened in 1924, and built in an Edwardian Free Style, the Grade B1 listed hall is on the ‘at risk’ register.
This important community asset is regularly used but a condition report states that it is in terminal decline unless work is carried out. Rainwater has penetrated the building causing dry rot and damp. Key works include conservation of the historic fabric, restoring architectural details and repairing and conserving the memorial tablet.
Our grant of £20,000 will go towards the long-term preservation of this architecturally important Hall, helping to secure the future of this well-used and inclusive space for the community to enjoy.
Cultybraggan Camp is the last remaining Prisoner of War Camp in Scotland and considered one of the three best preserved purpose-built WWII camps in Britain. Built in 1941, it housed around 4,000 prisoners of war and provides important evidence of the ways in which they were detained.
The camp and 50,000 acres of surrounding woodland is now owned by the Comrie Development Trust. The site includes the jail block, a Grade A building at Risk. It is the only permanent brick-built structure on the site and is surrounded by over one hundred Nissen Huts. It acts as a museum and holds a collection of items related to the inmates including letters, textiles and documents. The conditions in the building are unsuitable for the collections due to water ingress and damp.
Our grant of £30,000 will help restore the roof of the jail block. The building will be preserved and the museum protected, helping to secure the future of this unique and historically important site and collection for the public to enjoy.
Cultybraggan Camp (c) Comrie Development Trust
The Broadway cinema, Prestwick, first opened its doors in 1935. Unused since 1976, The Art Deco style building is C listed and is ‘at risk’. Many of the original features remain intact including the projection room, one of the best preserved in the country, with original equipment from 1935.
This prominent heritage asset has been brought back into community ownership by Friends of the Broadway Prestwick. They plan to develop the building into a multi-functional space, with cinema/performance auditorium, café, museum and community space.
Our grant of £15,000 will go towards surveys to develop the architectural plans to RIBA Stage 4, the first phase of restoring this important community asset for all to enjoy.
Whitevale Baths in Gallowgate, Glasgow first opened its doors in 1902. There were separate men’s and women’s swimming pools, hot baths and showers and a ‘steamie’ washhouse with washings stalls. The men’s pool could be drained and used as a concert venue.
After lying derelict since 2004, the pools and steamie were demolished leaving only the western wing with its attractive substantial red brick and sandstone facade – described as ‘more flamboyant than most baths’. The historic B listed building is at risk.
The Baths are owned by the council, but Glasgow Building Preservation Trust will be handed temporary ownership until restoration is complete. Once transformed the Baths will become a new home for the children’s charity PEEK (Possibilities for Each and Every Kid) and a welcoming hub for the Gallowgate community.
Our grant of £15,000 will go towards survey costs as part of the early development phase works.
Whitevale Baths (c) Glasgow Building Preservation Trust
Gracemount Mansion Development Trust in Edinburgh aims to develop and reopen the Georgian Grade B listed Gracemount Mansion and surrounding grounds, transforming it into a community hub through a range of heritage and wellbeing activities.
The house is built of finely worked ashlar sandstone and retains many panelled doors, sash and case windows, fireplaces and fine plaster cornices and decorative ceilings.
Once a busy youth and community centre during the 1960s to 1990s (even hosting bands such as the Bay City Rollers) the now derelict mansion is on the Scottish Buildings At Risk register with the condition of the built fabric declining rapidly.
In advance of full reopening in the future, our grant of £20,000 will go towards emergency repairs to allow Gracemount Mansion to partially re-open and begin to serve its community again.
Loftus Town Hall in Cleveland is a Grade II listed building dating from 1879, in the centre of Loftus. It is home to the Town Council and an Assembly Room used by the community. The French Gothic style building of special architectural and historical interest has many heritage features which are deteriorating.
There are plans to reinstate the original sash windows, install secondary glazing, uncover a boarded-up window (once a distinctive gable feature damaged by bombing), and repair the original cornice. Our grant of £15,000 will go towards restoring the heritage features of this significant town landmark for the benefit of the local community.
Loftus Town Hall (c) Sarah Yates / Loftus Town Council
Foxborough Gardens Tenants and Residents Association are keen to restore and conserve two William Mitchell murals featured at the entrance of two blocks of flats, owned by Lewisham council, on the Foxborough Gardens Estate.
The Murals were designed by the leading British sculptor, best known for his large-scale abstract concrete murals of the 1950s to 1970s, early in his career for the benefit of the public as part of the London County Council’s “Patronage of the Arts” scheme.
The two Foxborough Gardens Murals, together, illustrate the wide range of Mitchell’s techniques and styles. One mural is made from offcuts of wood and bits of old furniture – bannisters, dado rails and chair legs – arranged on baseboards and sanded down and varnished. It depicts abstract forms of birds, fountains, castles and sunbursts. The other mural is made from concrete and is more purely abstract.
Our grant of £8,000 will support the repair and conservation work of this important public art allowing the artworks to continue to enrich the local community and beyond.
Foxborough Gardens Mural (c) John Keidan
Built around 1570, Waxham Great Barn is the largest barn in Norfolk. Managed by Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust, the Grade I listed scheduled monument is home to a successful café and events venue with free daily public access on non-event days.
The ridge of the thatched roof needs renewing as the sedge has decayed, and the floor also needs renewal, replacing the chalk with a limecrete floor.
Our grant of £20,000 will go towards the roof and floor renovation, preserving this outstanding historic barn and ensuring its continued enjoyment by local residents and visitors.
The Royal Society of Sculptors is an artist-led, membership organisation founded in 1905. It supports and connects sculptors throughout their careers and hosts exhibitions and events.
The society also owns a nationally important archive, documenting the history of the Society and its members’ contribution to sculpture and public art in Britain and internationally across the 20th century. The archive includes records for over 1,000 members in the form of letters, press cuttings, exhibition catalogues, slides and photographs as well as records of the awards and prizes the Society runs.
The Grade II listed building where the society is based lacks suitable archive storage facilities. Our grant of £20,000 will go towards creating a purpose-built archive space in the basement securing the future of this important historic archive.
The St Etheldreda panel is a rare mid-15th century pre-reformation English panel painting depicting the life of the female saint Etheldreda (d.679) It is due to be exhibited next year as part of an exhibition on Benedictine rule and will explore the underrepresented story of medieval women.
The Sainsbury Centre intends to borrow the paintings from the Society of Antiquaries in London. The panels are unable to travel without conservation work to stabilise them. The conservation work will include x-rays, cleaning, paint stabilisation, repairing splits and woodworm damage, and upgrading framing to conservation grade.
Our grant of £10,000 will go towards the conservation work enabling these historically important and culturally relevant paintings to be seen outside of London for the first time and securing their longer-term future.
St Ives Community Land Trust aims to transform a redundant historic Grade II Methodist chapel into community arts hub. The chapel, built in 1824, will be repurposed into St Peter’s Street Studios, creating eight affordable art and craft studios for local people.
Although generally in good condition, the roof requires some structural works, external walls need repointing with lime mortar, repairs are needed to windows and doors and gutters.
Our grant of £14,000 is for design development work up to RIBA Stage 4. This will help support the ambition to transform a redundant historic chapel into a thriving arts hub for local people to enjoy.
Westmill Village Hall, owned by The T & M Greg Trust, is the only community building in the small Hertfordshire village of Westmill. It is used for exhibitions, events, meetings as well as being home to the local nursery.
Originally a C17 barn, it was converted into the village hall in 1900. The hall and its adjoining cottage are Grade II listed; and it is believed arts and crafts architect, Charles Spooner, may have had some input into its design.
Our grant of £15,000 will go towards repairs to the roof and improvements to the building fabric, of the hall and adjoining cottage. The listed building will be in better condition with improved energy performance securing the future of this vital community asset.
The Whiston Manorial Barn is Grade II* listed and dates back to the early 13th century. It is possibly the oldest agricultural building in south Yorkshire.
The eight bay, aisled, timber-framed barn is used as a community events venue and hosts heritage open days. The Parish Council bought it for the community in 1984 when it was at risk of collapse and restored it. A recent condition survey of the thatched roof identified the need for remedial works. Our grant of £20,000 is for urgent repair work, helping to secure the future of the historic barn, so that it can remain in community use.
Whiston Manorial Barn (c) Whiston Parish Council
For further information please see Recent Grants Awarded