Heritage sites receive £24m in National Lottery funding

Heritage sites across England have been awarded more than £24m in National Lottery funding to help protect them for the future.

Among the places that have received help from the National Lottery Heritage Fund is a regeneration project for Crystal Palace Park, south-east London.

Other areas to receive funding include Bradford and Halifax in West Yorkshire, and Leicester in the East Midlands.

It comes as the fund launched its £3.6bn, 10-year investment strategy.

At Crystal Palace Park, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £304,000 in development funding ahead of a wider £5m regeneration project award.

The initial amount covers the first phase of the project, set to last about 14 months, before checks are carried out and the second stage of the project is set to begin.

The money will go towards restoration work to the park's tidal lakes, a new dinosaur-themed playground and an information centre.

The Grade I-listed dinosaur sculptures and surrounding land is classed as the highest priority on Historic England's heritage at-risk register due to their poor condition and "immediate risk of further rapid deterioration".

Assistant director of regeneration at Bromley Council, Lydia Lee, said the dinosaurs, which have stood there for nearly 170 years, "were never really designed to last this long".

"Over time they have struggled being in the elements, they contract and expand with frost and drought and it's the weather effectively that has the biggest impact on them," she explained.

Ms Lee added the team had been focused on researching the best way of repairing and restoring the sculptures "for the future", taking 3D scans of the pieces using the latest technology so they are ready to begin work as soon as possible.

Eilish McGuinness, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: "We're delighted that thanks to players of the National Lottery, we can save much-loved heritage like Crystal Palace Park all over the UK, and create benefits for people, places and our natural environment.

"Our funding will help ensure that it continues to do just that for generations to come."

Other locations that have received investment include the Gardeners' House in Penzance, Cornwall, which has received more than £2m to redevelop a historic stable block into a community hub and environmental education centre.

In West Yorkshire, the National Science and Media Museum, in Bradford, has been awarded £3m and the Piece Hall in Halifax has received £650,000.

The fund has also given £2.6m to a regeneration project for Tottenham High Road in south-west London, as well as more than £700,000 to a new project a the Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage in Leicester, east Midlands.

The fund said these latest award decisions form part of its new 10-year strategy, which aims to invest £3.6bn in heritage sites with a focus on "place-based investment, partnerships and sustainability".