'Life-saving' £4.5m grant to halt decline of historic Miners’ Hall
The crumbling Durham Miners’ Hall has been given a “life-saving” £4.5m grant to preserve it and help continue the history of the North East colliery culture.
The Grade II Redhills, Durham Miners’ Hall has received National Lottery Heritage Fund cash for its restoration and renewal as a centre for culture, heritage and education.
Opened in 1915 as the headquartersof the Durham Miners Association( D MA) and known as The Pitman’s Parliament, the hall in Flass Street is in a state of disrepair and jeopardy.
The addition of new buildings will enable Redhills to improve accessibility and run activities and community resources, while audio-visual technology will bring to life the history of the DMA and the coalfield communities.
Durham County Council is providing £1.1m of matched funding toward the £7.25m project, with the DMA raising the remaining £1.65m from trades unions and supporters.
Work is due to start in 2022 and it will reopen in spring 2023.
The Pitman’s Parliament is the seat of a trade union democracy and saw its elected delegates create a pioneering social system before the creation of the national welfare state, providing medical care, sports grounds, libraries and homes for retired miners.
Ross Forbes, DMA programme director, said: “The National Lottery Heritage Fund has ensured that the proud story of the Durham miners will not just be preserved, but will continue to be written.
“Redhills is not just a building. It is so much more.
"It stands as a testament to the work and sacrifice of generations of miners and their families who achieved great things through collective endeavour .”
David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said :“Industrial heritage in the North is not only significant locally but for the wider region, and plays a huge role inbringing people together and in turn boosting the local economy.”
More than 25,000 people have visited Redhills since the 2018 launch of the campaign, winning the backing of high profile individuals and organisations, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, film director Ken Loach and artist Grayson Perry.
Alan Mardghum, DMA Secretary, said :“We are all determined that Red hills will serve as a fitting legacy for the remarkable people who built it."