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Areas, buildings and monuments

Areas, buildings and monuments

exterior view of a large norman castle in the middle of a city
We've supported Norwich Castle's transformation with £13million in funding.
Safeguarding our historic buildings, monuments and archaeology for future generations.

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £3.4billion to more than 10,600 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.

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

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

Find out more and apply
Visitors stand in the courtyard of the Old Black Lion.
The Old Black Lion will offer a traditional welcome to visitors.

Projects

Saving Northampton’s Old Black Lion

An ambitious repair project has successfully preserved the extraordinary heritage of one of Northampton’s oldest pubs.

A group of young people standing on deck of a tall ship in dock.
Blyth Tall Ship has created inspiring volunteer opportunities in the north east. Photo: Colin McLean Photography.

Stories

Grantee Q&A: the importance of collaborating, learning and adapting

We asked grantees from the Highlands to the Midlands to share their reflections and advice on the different stages of their journey with us – from application, through delivery, to evaluation.
The Pool of Bethesda (1736) and The Good Samaritan (1737) on the Hogarth stair.
The characters portrayed in The Pool of Bethesda are thought to be patients from the hospital, many of whose conditions are recognisable to the trained eye. Credit: David Parry.

Projects

Revealing a hidden treasure: Barts North Wing opens to the public

This transformational project is welcoming visitors to a hidden part of London’s oldest working hospital for the first time.

Exterior of Great Malvern Priory including Gothic tower
We're supporting conservation work to the Grade I listed Great Malvern Priory. Credit: Daderot, Wikimedia Commons.

Projects

Protecting at-risk heritage at Great Malvern Priory

Our funding will conserve the priory’s internationally significant collection of stained glass, carry out essential repairs to the historic building and improve visitor facilities.

Three people wearing high vis jackets stand in front of a derelict historic building in a post-industrial landscape, formerly a shipyard.
Exploring Govan Graving Docks with Deirdre Gaughan, Chair of the Central Govan Action Plan, Andy Milne from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Cllr. Ricky Bell, Deputy Leader of Glasgow City Council and Govan Ward councillor. Photo: Peter Devlin.

Projects

A bright future for the Govan Heritage project

We're supporting the next phase of heritage-inspired regeneration in one of Scotland’s most historically significant yet economically disadvantaged urban areas.

A remote, contemporary bird-watching tower in the middle of vast wetlands. Across a wooden causeway, two birdwatchers depart the tower.
Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve, in the Flow Country UNESCO World Heritage Site, Scotland. Photo: Euan Myles / RSPB.

News

80 years of UNESCO: how our funding protects globally important heritage sites

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we’ve invested more than £1billion in heritage projects of all shapes and sizes throughout the UK’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Biospheres and Geoparks.
A damaged wall painting showing a biblical scene of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ
The project will restore wall paintings in the former chapel. Credit: Plas Gunter Mansion Trust.

Projects

The small house with a big story: restoring Plas Gunter Mansion

Renovations to the Grade II* listed 17th-century building in Abergavenny will allow it to open to the public for the first time.

A view of the three levels of the Bernat Klein Studio, a brutalist concrete structure surrounded by woodland.
The Bernat Klein Studio in the Scottish Borders.

Projects

Saving Peter Womersley’s Bernat Klein Studio

Amid the rural beauty of the Scottish Borders, a coalition of conservators has taken ownership of an architectural marvel, steeped in modernist heritage.

Two people are in a costume room and are looking down at a pattern on a cutting table. In the background are images of costumes, costumes on mannequins and rolls of fabric stacked on shelves
Costumes will undergo condition surveys, be catalogued and preserved and feature in a costume exhibition. Credit: Carrie Davenport / Lyric Theatre.

Projects

Lyric Theatre celebrates 75 years of culture, community and creativity

The Lyric Theatre in Belfast is embarking on a three-year heritage project to share its 75-year history and make it more accessible to audiences, researchers and the wider community.

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.