Member Article

Heritage funding boost for Cheshire listed building

Bramall Hall in Stockport has been awarded a £1.6 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to transform it into a regional heritage attraction.

The overall cost of the project is £2 million which also includes funding from Stockport Council who own and manage the Grade I Listed building. The Friends of Bramall Hall and Park have raised money towards the project and will contribute their time.

The funding will be used to restore the nationally important building including repairs to the highly decorative 16th-century Venetian plaster ceiling in the Withdrawing Room.

The Victorian Boiler House will be repaired, and the repair and conversion of the stable block will provide Bramall Hall with much improved visitor facilities including better toilets, a relocated shop and café, and a dedicated education space for school parties.

The project will enable the Council to conserve key objects and explain Bramall Hall’s fascinating past to visitors in a more engaging, modern, and interactive way.

People can get involved in the project by volunteering their time or through an exciting programme of training and events.

Councillor Iain Roberts, Executive Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund grant is tremendously good news. I would also like to thank the Friends of Bramall Hall & Park for their on-going support.

“This project will preserve Bramall Hall as a legacy for future generations of Stockport residents. Bramall Hall is an historic building of major significance which hasn’t seen any real investment since the 1980s.

“The funding will unlock the Hall’s potential and allow Stockport residents and visitors much greater benefit from this important site. We want to encourage more people to visit this gem on their doorstep, and the funding will help us to reach more schoolchildren.”

Sara Hilton, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “Once described as ‘one of the four best timber-framed mansions of England’, Bramall Hall is an impressive example of Medieval architecture and of huge heritage merit.

“The HLF grant will enable vital repair and conservation work to get underway on the most at risk parts of the building. It will also help Stockport Council create an interactive series of community activities and improve the current visitor facilities encouraging everyone to visit and get involved.”

Bramall Hall is a key heritage site in the Council’s museum portfolio which also includes the Air Raid Shelters, Hat Works and Stockport Story/Staircase House.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .