Hylton Castle picks up a national award

The Hylton Castle Project has won the National Constructing Excellence 2020 award for Conservation and Regeneration.

This follows the regional accolade success at the end of last year for the initiative, which had a partnership including Sunderland City Council, the Friends of Hylton Castle and Dene, National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Garfield and Wolfson Foundations, English Heritage and Historic England.

The Friends of Hylton Castle and Dene group had pushed the project for more than 25 years.

With £2.9million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, matched by more than £1.5million from Sunderland City Council, the re-development of Hylton Castle started in September 2017 and was completed last year.

Consultants, contractors, archaeologists, engineers and volunteers all contributed to the complex project. Many heritage skills were needed such as geological testing of stone and mortar, stonemasonry walling and carving and bespoke joinery.

These skills helped with keeping the castle historically correct, while utilising the best of modern conservation materials in the repairs.

New floors, stairs, and a lift have been added inside the castle, as well as a café and exhibition and flexible spaces for community and educational use.

One of the fundamental parts of the regeneration was to make the castle accessible – removing the entrance steps and replacing with a long ramp, as well as a new ambulant staircase and a lift to all floors.