£2.5M TO BRING PAST BACK TO LIFE
Houses to become heritage attraction
PLANS to restore 11 Victorian pottery workers’ houses will go ahead after the final piece of the £2.5 million funding jigsaw was secured.
It will see the Harper Street properties, in Middleport, transformed into a new heritage attraction, recreating what domestic life was like during that period of British history.
There will also be workshops and retail space for seven creative businesses.
And as part of the wider project, Middleport Matters Community Trust will be involved in delivering community activities and support services from a modern community centre.
It builds on the phenomenal success of the neighbouring Grade Ii*-listed Middleport Pottery, which has become one of the city’s top tourist spots.
Now the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is investing more than £1.5 million in bringing the row of Harper Street houses back to life.
Clare Wood, chief executive of Re-form Heritage, which is overseeing the restoration work, said: “We are extremely grateful for the additional funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the other generous supporters of the scheme.
“It is a point of real pride to be able to repair and restore this terrific piece of Victorian architecture, while also supporting 13 new jobs, collaborating with the community and bringing the collections and stories associated with Harper Street to life.”
The terrace houses sit directly in front of Middleport Pottery and the end property was once home to the lodge keeper who oversaw access to the potbank. Through the restoration, visitors will be able to step back in time to the 1930s when they enter the lodge keeper’s house.
There will also be a dedicated store for the Middleport Pottery collection and archive, along with a public research room to allow people to study the documents, including those being digitised for the first time.
Other funds for the project include £245,000 from Historic England and grants and loans from a range of other bodies.
Anne Jenkins, the NHLF’S director for England, the Midlands and East, said: “Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we are proud to be able to support the renovation project of one of the last remaining undeveloped and now derelict Victorian terraces in the Trent and Mersey Canal conservation area.
“Re-form Heritage will not only enhance the visitor experience at Middleport Pottery, but also safeguard a piece of social history and bolster commercial opportunities, all of which will come together to aid the wider regeneration of the area.”
Vicki Gwynne, operations manager at Middleport Matters Community Trust, said the group was ‘thrilled to be part of this fantastic project’.
She added: “As well as the project celebrating the history of local families who have worked in the pottery, the new community centre will provide a flexible, purpose built, accessible space the whole community can benefit from.”