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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.

Since 1994 we have awarded £3.2billion to 10,200 area, historic building and monument projects across the UK.

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

For more inspiration, see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

Find out more and apply
Carreg Fawr, the house on the remote Bardsey Island where the artist Brenda Chamberlain lived
Carreg Fawr, the house on the remote Bardsey Island where the artist Brenda Chamberlain lived

Projects

Conserving the Brenda Chamberlain Murals

Our funding has helped preserve murals painted by the Welsh artist, poet and writer Brenda Chamberlain and her home on Bardsey Island.

Illustrated map showing 58 UK UNESCO sites
The UNESCO illustrated map, showing 58 heritage sites across the UK.

Projects

UNESCO launch a new illustrated map of the UK’s top heritage sites

Designed by Birmingham-based creative cartographer Tom Woolley, the map shows all 58 sites, cities and natural landscapes, helping to bring to life the huge variety of heritage on people’s doorsteps.

The front exterior of Hyde Park Picture House
The newly restored and renovated front of Hyde Park Picture House

Projects

The Picture House Project: revamping an iconic Leeds cinema

The Hyde Park Picture House is one of the UK's oldest and most treasured cinemas – now restored to its former glory, and updated for a new generation of visitors.

Octagonal brick structure with roof with a cross on the cliff tops above Bude in Cornwall.
The Storm Tower at Compass Point

Projects

Saving Bude’s historic Storm Tower

The Storm Tower at Compass Point needs to be moved 100 metres inland due to the impact of climate change and coastal erosion.

Four people stand in a grand hall
Conal McFeely (St Columb’s Hall Trust), Anne-Marie Gallagher (St Columb’s Hall Trust), Dr Paul Mullan (the Heritage Fund) and Helen Quigley (St Columb’s Hall Trust) inside St Columb's Hall.

News

A new dawn for St Columb’s Hall as future is secured

An iconic venue that has been the backdrop to the political and cultural history of Derry/Londonderry will be re-awakened thanks to £751,727 National Lottery funding.
Group of young people sat around a campfire in a wood
A group of young people engage in outdoor activities.

Projects

West Horsley Place: An historic estate without barriers

Having never been open to the public before, West Horsely Place provides a brand-new heritage offer created in collaboration with local communities.