National Slate Museum secures lottery funding
A museum about the slate industry in north Wales is among a number of sites to benefit from lottery money to support industrial heritage.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru - National Slate Museum £412,565 to develop a scheme to turn the venue into a world-class visitor attraction. The museum lies at the heart of the Wales Slate Landscape, which became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2021.
The National Slate Museum was among eight industrial heritage projects that the Heritage Fund awarded a total of £14.8m.
The development funding will enable the National Slate Museum to progress its plans and apply for a full grant of £9,440,414 from the Heritage Fund at a later date. The venue is managed by Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales.
Amgueddfa Cymru chief executive Jane Richardson said: “This will transform not only our museum, but the way we can tell the story of the world heritage slate landscape of North West Wales. This funding marks a milestone in the museum’s history and will enable us to connect with communities across Wales and the world.
“Through the development of new creative spaces, we will be able to bring the national collection and new exhibitions to North Wales for the first time. We will also create opportunities for people from all backgrounds to enjoy, learn and develop traditional craft skills, increasing employment, wellbeing and better connecting people and communities with our fantastic collections.”
Other industrial sites awarded Heritage Fund grants include more than £3.5m for the University of Kent to support its collaboration with Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and Medway Council to rejuvenate the Grade II-listed Police Section House of the former Royal Dockyard Chatham. Facilities will include digital production studios, business units, exhibition spaces and a cafe.
On the Isle of Scilly, more than £4.6m in National Lottery money will help the Old Town Hall to become a museum and cultural centre. The project will create a community hall, performance and exhibition space, and a venue for cinema, theatre and live music.
In London, £1.6m has been awarded to the Lighting Up the Lea project. This will restore a Thames Ironworks-made historic vessel, construct a new heritage centre, and develop a 3-year programme of exhibitions, volunteering opportunities and heritage activities.
More than £1.6m will enable a former tobacco pipe factory in Glasgow to open as a cultural centre in the 100-year old Barras market at the heart of the working-class neighbourhood of Calton.
Saintfield Community Heritage Park near Belfast will receive over £900,000 to create the area’s first free-to-access community park.
The Pioneering Sailing Trust has been awarded £2.3m of lottery funding to develop training facilities and deliver a new apprenticeship scheme.
In Fife, a plan to turn a 1937 herring fishing boat into a working community asset has been awarded development funding of £84,856.