Middleton in the running for heritage lottery grant

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £50,000 for proposals to be worked up to breathe new life into Middleton’s most historic areas.

The HLF development grant, awarded under its Townscape Heritage Initiative, is to help the council and its partners progress to the full approval stage of the grant application process.

The Council has requested a total of £1.975m from the HLF.

The proposed scheme would be focused on the Town Centre Conservation Area, particularly around Long Street where there is a ‘golden cluster’ of important listed buildings.

Peter Rowlinson, the council’s Head of Planning and Regulation, said: “This is great news for Middleton. Our plans are all about maximising the potential of the conservation area which sits alongside much of the regeneration activity taking place in Middleton town centre. We are really excited about making sure we enhance the best of Middleton’s heritage so it can be a vital part of Middleton’s future.”

Sara Hilton, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund is proud to be playing a key role in helping to revitalise these once thriving towns across the North West. This project has huge potential to rejuvenate Middleton by restoring and celebrating the town’s heritage, particularly the architecture of Edgar Wood. This is a wonderful contribution towards regenerating the town centre.”

At the heart of the proposals is a programme of repair and restoration works to Long Street Methodist Church and School as well as improvements to the playground and garden. The buildings would be developed as the Edgar Wood Heritage Conference Centre and the headquarters of the Greater Manchester Building Preservation Trust.

The hillside setting of the grade 1 listed St Leonard’s Church is considered critical to the development of the area as a potential tourist attraction, as is the Old Burial Ground, and Edgar Wood’s staircase, fountain and ezedra would be conserved.

Historically valuable buildings on Rochdale Road would also be repaired and restored along with Market Place Guardian Buildings.

Achieving this ‘earmarked first round-pass’¹ means that money has been set aside by the HLF for the full implementation of the scheme.

The THI project is built on strong community support following five years of planning and consultation. The award of development funding will give the council the opportunity to fully detail the plans, which will lay the bedrock for rejuvenation of the cultural life of the area.

The project team will now focus on submitting a fully developed application to secure the full award of just under £2m. A final decision is expected to be taken by the HLF next year.

Andy Zuntz, Executive Director at the council, said: “This is fantastic news. Middleton has an outstanding collection of magnificent historic buildings and we want to conserve them and the surrounding townscape so we can strengthen Middleton’s position on the heritage and visitor map of the north-west.“