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Science and industry is main focus in latest round of HLF funding

By Tom Anstey    20 May 2015
The funding at Jodrell Bank will go towards creating an exhibition pavilion to tell the story of the site’s role in international scientific development / Shutterstock.com

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a share of £98m (US152.2m, €136.9m) to nine heritage sites across the UK in the latest round of donations from the charity.

Preservation of scientific and technological history is a running theme in this latest funding round, with one of the largest individual funds – worth £12.1m (US$18.8m, €16.9m) – going to Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, the home of the Lovell Telescope and the only site in the world which showcases the story of the development of radio astronomy. The funding at Jodrell Bank will go towards creating an exhibition pavilion to tell the story of the site’s role in international scientific development, as well as new volunteer, skills and schools programmes for the visitor attraction.

London’s Science Museum, which is partway through a £60m (US$93.2m, €83.5m) expansion will receive £8m (US$12.4m, €11.1m) towards its £24m (US$37.2m, €33.5m) medicine galleries, which are due to be completed in 2019. The new galleries – designed by Wilkinson Eyre – will take up the entire first floor of the the museum, covering 3,000sq m (32,292sq ft) of space, and will house objects that explore the last 400 years of medical science.

Following the industrial theme, the HLF has also granted £9.4m (US$14.6m, €13.1m) to the Derby Silk Mill, the world’s first fully-mechanised factory (now housing a museum), which will undergo a restoration process.

The Great Central Railway, one of the UK’s most prominent heritage railways, has been given £10m (US$15.5m, €14m) to build a new heritage railway museum in Leicester next to the railway line which runs through Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The project is backed by York’s National Railway Museum, which will supplies some of the new museum’s exhibits.

For its project to digitise the UK’s “rare, unique and most vulnerable” sound recordings, the British Library has been granted £9.6m (US$14.9m, €13.4m). This sum will be used to secure more than half-a-million recordings – varying from extinct birdsong to interviews with child refugees in Nazi Germany – and make them available online for people to hear.

After revealing expansion plans in July 2014, Dorset County Museum has won £10.4m (US$16.1m, €14.5m) which will go towards the £13m (US$20.2m, €18.1m) development, which will include a new discovery centre as part of the 19th century museum’s extension. The plans will also provide facilities for other museums in the county to safely store historical artefacts.

Lincoln Cathedral, the only cathedral in the UK on Historic England's buildings at risk register, has been granted £12.4m (€17.3m, US$19.3m) by the HLF to pay for urgent repairs to the building and to fund the new interpretation centre by Mather & Co.

The largest amount is going to Glasgow’s Burrell Collection, which has been given £15m (US$23m, €20.9m) in HLF funding for a major refurbishment programme. The museum, which currently displays 8,000 artefacts, will eventually be able to to increase the number of objects on display from 20 per cent of its collection to 90 per cent (around 36,000 objects).

Finally, London’s Geffrye Museum has been awarded £11m (€15.3m, £11m) towards its planned £15m (US$24m, €18.9m) transformation, which will create new spaces for the museum’s collections and library. The plans by architecture firm Wright & Wright include a gallery, café and conference facilities, as well as a rejuvenation of the current public spaces, with additional space to be made by opening up and making more effective use of existing areas previously unseen by the public. The redevelopment will also include a new pavilion, which will be built in the museum’s gardens for learning activities and special events.

Commenting on the HLF grants, recently appointed culture secretary, John Whittingdale, said: "These grants will not only make a lasting difference to local areas and the UK's wider heritage, but will also use culture to inspire young people to learn more about science and technology for generations to come."

London’s Geffrye Museum has been awarded £11m towards its planned £15m transformation
The largest amount is going to Glasgow’s Burrell Collection / Shutterstock.com
Lincoln Cathedral has been granted £12.4m for urgent repairs to the building and to fund a new interpretation centre by Mather & Co / Shutterstock.com
Dorset County Museum has won £10.4m (US$16.1m, €14.5m) which will go towards a£13m (US$20.2m, €18.1m) development
For its project to digitise the UK’s “rare, unique and most vulnerable” sound recordings, the British Library has been granted £9.6m / The British Library
The Great Central Railway has been given £10m (US$15.5m, €14m) to build a new heritage railway museum in Leicester / Shutterstock.com
Derby Silk Mill, the world’s first fully-mechanised factory, will undergo a restoration process / Shutterstock.com
London’s Science Museum will receive £8m towards its £24m medicine galleries
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