Breaking the code at Bletchley Park

World War II codebreaking centre set to benefit from latest Heritage Lottery Fund support.

Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced confirmed funding [1] of over £6m for three heritage projects. These involve:

Lifting the lid on Bletchley Park’s fascinating secret wartime history;
Conserving one of the UK’s most endangered insects - the bumblebee;
Restoring Newcastle’s ‘Black Gate’, a notable medieval landmark.
Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “These projects demonstrate the huge reach of our work, from protecting the endangered bumblebee to restoring wonderful historic buildings. We were extremely impressed with the quality of the proposals we looked at for this round of funding and high competition meant difficult decisions on the day. We hope that this sizeable investment of lottery money will give many more people the chance to get involved with their local heritage, wherever their interests lie.”

Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes – confirmed HLF grant of £4.6m
Internationally renowned for its pivotal role in World War II, Bletchley Park was originally a country house and estate until it was purchased by the British Government in 1938 for the use of the Government Code and Cypher School and Secret Intelligence Service. Housing 10,000 people at its peak of activity, the Bletchley Park Codebreakers broke the German cypher systems, Enigma and Lorenz. This extraordinary effort is thought to have cut the war short by two years.

Now open to the public, with HLF’s support the Bletchley Park Trust will be able to restore some of the Park’s most important buildings, most notably the listed wooden huts that were the hub of vital codebreaking activity. New exhibitions and interactive displays will bring Bletchley’s fascinating story alive for visitors of all ages. Learning activities will be centred around three themes - ‘war’, ‘people’, and ‘puzzles’ - giving young people an interactive and fun way to learn about the work that went on at Bletchley.

Stephen Fry, British actor and author, welcomed the announcement: "Today marks a monumental triumph for the Bletchley Park Trust. This investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund will finally enable the Trust to do justice to this amazing place in tribute to the tremendous intellectual feat of those who worked there. Not only did these people change the very course of history by helping to secure the allied victory, thereby quietly and modestly providing us with the free world, they also gave birth to the Information Age which underpins the way we all live today. HLF has now ensured that recognition for these extraordinary accomplishments is finally in sight. Now we must all see that the Trust is given every support it needs in order to raise the match funding required to make this project a wonderful reality."

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “The complex story of Bletchley Park revolves around a group of dedicated men and women who quietly worked away with no expectation of public recognition. Now, more than sixty years later, the Trust will bring to life fascinating tales of the ground-breaking work that took place in this sprawling country estate. I cannot think of a better use of Heritage Lottery Fund money than to support this project and, in so doing, honour the memory of all who were involved.”

Bees for Everyone – UK-wide – confirmed HLF grant of £340,000
20,000 volunteers will be helping to protect the UK’s endangered bumblebee population as part of a three-year conservation project supported by an HLF grant today. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust will begin work with 300 farmers and landowners and up to 20,000 members of the public from across the UK to raise awareness of these important pollinators and help conserve up to 1,200ha of precious habitat. Volunteers have played a key role in the development of this project and will take part in a variety of workshops and training activities including bumblebee recording.

The UK’s bumblebee population has been in serious decline over recent years. Twenty four species of bumblebee remain in the UK, representing about 10 per cent of the world's bumblebee population and six of these are listed as a BAP priority species [2]. Bumblebees are fundamental to our ecosystem and their pollination is vital for food production and wildflower reproduction.

Old Newcastle – Where the story begins - confirmed HLF grant of £1.4m
HLF’s investment will restore Newcastle’s 13th-century Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I-listed ‘Black Gate’, bringing this currently vacant building back into public use as a fully accessible heritage, education and community space.

Built by Henry III in the mid-13th century as a major addition to the defences of the royal fortress in Newcastle, the ‘Black Gate’ used the latest thinking on military defence. It has subsequently had an interesting and varied history both as a defensive building, with additional defences added during the Civil War, then later as merchant’s residence which, in the nineteenth century, became a slum tenement.

The restoration project aims to reconnect the ‘Black Gate’ with its medieval neighbours, the Castle Keep and Cathedral Church of St Nicholas. Innovative digital exhibitions and learning activities will help tell the story of the history of Newcastle and the people who lived there.

Initial HLF support [3] has been given for six projects currently developing proposals for full HLF grants at a later date. Plans include:

Opening up Tate Britain’s archive collections for everyone to enjoy;
Revitalising Kenwood House on London’s Hampstead Heath;
Restoring Rochester Cathedral - one of England’s oldest medieval places of worship;
Redeveloping the last remaining pre-16th-century courthouse on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile;
Telling the story of British Black Dance over the last 50 years;
Removing Northampton’s most popular heritage site, Delapre Abbey, from the Register which in 2008 was expanded to become the Heritage at Risk Register [4].
Transforming Tate Britain – Buildings, Archives and Access, London – initial support for a £4.9m HLF bid
This project will transform the way that people can access, engage with and learn about Britain’s cultural heritage. Tate Britain will restore and open up parts of the original 19th- century building that are currently closed to the public and will maximise opportunities presented by new technology to open up access to the national archive collections, both at Tate Britain and beyond.

Kenwood House, London – initial support for a £3.4m HLF bid including £118,800 development funding.
English Heritage (EH) plan to undertake a vital conservation programme to secure the future of Robert Adam’s north London masterpiece. The roof will be made weatherproof, protecting the magnificent interior and internationally important art collection from serious leaks while the mansion's exteriors will be repaired, and some rooms re-presented. The largely unknown Kenwood Dairy will also be restored and opened to the public. EH will work with a number of local organisations to forge a greater connection between Kenwood and Hampstead Heath.

Rochester Cathedral, Kent – initial support for a £3.2m HLF bid including £158,000 development funding
This project will greatly improve the visitor experience at Rochester Cathedral, with a focus on enhancing public access to the crypt, library and ‘hidden treasures’ which include the first recorded text in the English language. The local community will be actively involved over the course of the project and work on new exhibitions and visitor events.

The Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning and Conservation, Edinburgh – initial support for a £2.4m HLF bid including £403,700 development funding
The project will restore and redevelop Riddle's Court, one of the earliest surviving 16th-century courtyard houses in Edinburgh, into The Patrick Geddes [5] Centre for Learning and Conservation. The building, located on the Royal Mile, will provide a learning and conservation hub with public spaces in the heart of the city linked to Patrick Geddes’s ethos for learning, and a permanent base for the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.

Black Dance Archives, UK-wide – initial support for a £384,500 including £89,600 development funding
This project will collect, catalogue and preserve previously unknown archive materials from ten British Black Dance companies who have each made a significant impact on British Dance over the last 50 years. Working in partnership with the National Resource Centre for Dance, part of the University of Surrey, the project will create new exhibitions and performances to showcase these achievements.

Delapre Abbey, Northampton – initial support for a £3.8m including £250,600 development funding
Northampton Borough Council plans to restore Delapre Abbey, which dates from 1145, back to its former glory and remove it from the Heritage at Risk Register. The site will be transformed into a cultural and heritage centre providing a range of heritage and other learning and training opportunities for the local community