National Lottery Heritage Fund: Transforming Derelict Mills

Textile mills were once at the forefront of the initial Northern Powerhouse, but many are now derelict, empty and under-utilised.

There is a real focus on bringing this heritage and culturally important buildings back into use – and the National Lottery Heritage Fund is playing a vital role in doing just that. We’ve interviewed David Renwick, Director of North England, to hear about the role they’re playing…

• Tell us a little about The National Lottery Heritage Fund and how it came about?

The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by players of the National Lottery to inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.

The Fund is one of 12 distributors of funding, raised from National Lottery ticket sales. It was founded by the Government in 1994, along with the National Lottery itself, and provides money for projects relating to heritage and engaging people across the UK with their heritage. 20% of the money raised for good causes through Lottery ticket sales is distributed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since 1994, National Lottery grants amounting to £8 billion have been awardedto more than 44,000 projects have sustained and transformed the UK’s heritage. Thanks to this investment, we have seen a renaissance in our national heritage, transforming many of our great institutions as well as reaching into every community in the land, and improving daily lives for millions. This has enabled organisations to transform their heritage offer to the public and allowed a much wider range of people to take part in heritage activities.

With the launch of our new Strategic Funding Framework in January 2019, we also introduced a new mandatory outcome, so that every project we fund ensures that “a wider range of people will be involved in heritage”.

• How is it preserving historic buildings across the nation?

We continue to support projects that secure new uses for under-used, derelict or at-risk historic buildings. We also welcome commercial elements to these new uses where they support the viability of the scheme as a whole. In future, these types of project may be led by for-profit organisations in collaboration with not-for-profit organisations, and they will need to deliver positive social and community outcomes as well as demonstrate that the public benefit will substantially outweigh any private gain.

For organisations running projects linked to an historic building, they can apply for a National Lottery Grant for Heritage through our open programme for all types of heritage project in the UK. Through this we award grants from £3,000 through to £5 million, although there are varying application and assessment processes and criteria for the different levels of grants – small (£3,00-£10,000), medium (£10,000-£250,000) and large (£250,000-£5million).

Through the open programme we fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations.

In addition to the above there are also Heritage Enterprise grants from £250,000 to £5million. This programme is specifically for projects that seek to achieve economic growth by investing in heritage. It is aimed at enterprising community organisations and commercial organisations working in partnership with community organisations to help them rescue neglected historic buildings and sites and return them to a viable productive use. Heritage Enterprise is designed to bridge the funding gap that prevents a historic asset in need of repair from being returned to a beneficial and commercial use. The case for grant funding will depend on there being a conservation deficit.

In relation to mills, a significant part of our role is working in partnership with others to encourage communities, local authorities, planners and the widest range of investors to see mills as important and worth investing in – and our funding can show great examples of how this has worked in practice, and facilitated community engagement and support in their heritage stories. Our examples will often be smaller scale and incremental like Leigh Spinners and Islington Mill, where we are helping to support sustainable businesses and community uses within these buildings. In a number of cases, our funding can be used for the regeneration of part of a mill or one building within a mill complex. It may also be that we won’t necessarily fund the capital works that form part of the regeneration of a mill, but will fund projects that can help engage local communities with the history of the buildings, or form new partnerships to attract other funders or investors.

• Are there any real-life examples of mills which The Fund has helped transform?

Over the years, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has invested over £120m into 390 projects relating to mills. In the North of England specifically, there has been an investment of £34m across 127 projects.

Our investment has seen the redevelopment of Gibson Mill situated at the heart of Hardcastle Crags in West Yorkshire. The mill, which is run by the National Trust, has been renovated and is now completely self-sustainable. It is a completely ‘Off the Grid’ building (not connected to the National Grid), and within its four walls there is a cafe facility and visitor centre telling the story of the history of the mill and surrounding area. It has operated for over 10 years without a connection to the outside world for energy, water and waste, and it is the National Trust’s only property which is 100% renewable.

Funding also went into saving Howsham Mill that had sat derelict since 1947. In a community-led project run by the Renewable Heritage Trust, the mill’s waterwheel was reinstated together with an Archimedean screw turbine to harness the power of the river once more – this time not grinding corn, but producing electricity. The project also saw the redevelopment of the mill inside and out, with the interior developed into a permanent state-of-the-art classroom and meeting space.

• How much are you looking to invest/fund into the heritage sector over the coming years?

Over the next five years The National Lottery Heritage Fund, expects to invest around £1.2 billion in the UK’s heritage. Through this investment we will also increase our focus on wellbeing, capacity-building and innovation amongst others, explore the use of social investment and commit to increased devolution in our decision-making.

• What are the main challenges whilst looking to regenerate mills?

The sheer abundance of mills across the UK and in particular in the North of England, means that we would not be able to fund all of the mills in need of regeneration. Mills do not necessarily need public funding to be restored and given the scale of mills in the UK, a few chosen sites will be the ones to benefit from this. Our funding is useful where there is particularly significant heritage, where the past continues to inspire people today and also where there may be a conservation deficit.

The regeneration of a mill complex, or even an individual mill, can amount to incredibly large costs, and this can also be the case when taking a conservation deficit approach. In instances like this, a phased approach can be taken, and our involvement, as well as those of others and our partners, can help to stimulate interest in private sector regeneration of these historical buildings.

• And what are the opportunities and benefits of regenerating mills?

The National Lottery Heritage Fund remains committed to both industrial heritage and heritage at risk, so there are opportunities for mills in need of regeneration. A growing focus for The Fund is resilience and sustainability, so we want to see proposals for projects that clearly demonstrate that they are self-sustaining and robust in the face of changing circumstances.

The scope of the Fund’s work also goes beyond elements of the built historic environment and includes assets such as collections, landscapes, infrastructure, and intangible memories and culture. This gives projects a huge opportunity to showcase some of the wider stories around the heritage of a mill, and bringing new audiences in through programmes outside of capital works.

Businesses and enterprise also have a key role to play. As previously mentioned, our Heritage Enterprise programme is a key tool for partnerships between public and private bodies that want to deliver innovative solutions for the development of assets that would otherwise be overlooked as undeliverable.

We know from previous investment that projects related to mills can deliver regeneration, growth and pride in the local community, and we expect the projects we fund to harness that opportunity.

• What projects/mills are you working on currently?

At present, we have funded a number of projects relating to mills which are in progress.

One of the most recent awards is that of Islington Mill in Salford, Greater Manchester, who have been given £746,000 for its regeneration. The Grade II listed building that started life as cotton mill in 1823, is now home to 50 studios, which can house galleries, rehearsal spaces, and over 150 businesses and artists are currently residents.

Already a well-established arts venue and community asset for Salford and further afield, this grant will ensure the mill’s future which is threatened due to the deteriorating fabric of the building.

The project, ‘Threading the Heritage of Islington Mill: The Living Story’ will allow Islington Mill to be salvaged from further deterioration and safeguard its future for its 200^th anniversary in 2023. Derelict areas will be rejuvenated and ensure that more space will be available for artists and businesses, enhancing the mill’s financial viability and continuing to nurture the artistic and entrepreneurial community in the area.

While capital works are key to ensuring Islington Mill’s future, activities will seek to gain a  deeper understanding of the site’s heritage and showcase it to new audiences. The community will be engaged in the story of the evolution of the site as an inclusive venue for social change and entrepreneurialism, with a vision of being a Living Story, with 3 key themes:

• Witness to Change– the 200 year story of industrial and social heritage associated with the site.
• Room, Power, People– the story of the people and products associated with the site
• Clothing and Culture– the relationship between clothing and identity explored through the site’s history.

You can find out more about the National Lottery Heritage Fund here > https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/