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Wigan’s proud heritage received a major boost today as The History Shop
received official confirmation of a £500,000 grant from the Heritage
Lottery Fund.
The grant will help secure The History Shop’s future as a ‘heritage hub’
for the whole of Wigan Borough as part of Wigan Leisure and Culture
Trust’s vision for Heritage Services.
Thanks to this funding, the site where George Orwell researched ‘The
Road to Wigan Pier’, will undergo dramatic physical improvements
including:
• new exciting museum displays and exhibition areas;
• major access improvements including a lift to the first floor;
• a full refurbishment of the study and research areas;
• and new toilet facilities on the ground floor.
Match funding of £405,000 from Wigan Council will also help to restore
the roof and other external fabrics ensuring the building fits in with
exciting future plans to develop the adjacent Joint Service Centre in
the town centre.
In total over £1.3million will be invested in the facility over the next
two years with Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust providing £325,000, and
another £100,000 coming from other external grants.
Chair of Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust Jacqui Boardman said: “This
grant will be a significant boost to The History Shop but also to how we
develop Heritage Services across the borough. We thank the Heritage
Lottery Fund for sharing our confidence in the plans we have to make
Wigan’s proud heritage accessible to as many people as possible.
“The end product of this investment will be a more user-friendly and
more easily accessible facility with interesting displays for people to
engage with. Our aim is to take heritage out into the community through
a variety of programmes with The History Shop acting as the key hub for
heritage. This is an exciting day and will allow us to unlock all the
potential that heritage holds to make our borough a better place.”
The History Shop, formerly the Wigan Reference Library, was designed by
renowned architect Alfred Waterhouse who also created famous sites such
as Manchester Town Hall and The Natural History Museum.
The library was transformed into The History Shop in 1992 and became one
of the first historical research and study centres of its type in the
UK. It is now hugely popular with genealogical researchers and local
historians.
Wigan Council’s Cabinet Lifestyle Champion Cllr. Brian Baldwin said: “We
are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has backed our ambitions to
improve this historic facility. The Council approved the extra funding
to ensure that The History Shop continues to play an active part of the
town centre.
“We are determined that heritage will play a key role in the borough’s
cultural development. Together with other projects such as the Wigan
Pier Quarter we are confident that The History Shop will help us to
achieve those ambitions.”
Heritage Lottery Fund Casework Manager for the North West Peter Fellows
said: "We are passionate about creating opportunities for communities to
explore their heritage. This project will bring together a treasure
trove of local history and set Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust well on
their way to transforming the way the past is brought to life.”
The Heritage Lottery Fund grant award follows a long process of
planning, development and hard work helping to fulfil the Trust’s vision
for Heritage Services: “To engage people in their own and Wigan’s
heritage through creative management and use of archives, collections
and heritage resources.”
Alongside the developments at The History Shop the long term objectives
to improve the quality of Heritage Services across the borough include:
• the development of the Wigan Pier Quarter's Arts and Heritage Learning
Centre;
• broadening access to the collections including those held in the
archives at Leigh Town Hall and local history at the Turnpike Centre,
Leigh;
• ensuring that learning is at the centre of the service through
exhibitions, activities and outreach work;
• providing support to all groups who wish to get involved in their own
heritage.
There is also a specific fund put aside to improve access to Wigan
Borough’s extensive photographic collection. Five thousand images will
be digitised and made available to all, initially via the Internet.
For further information about The History Shop contact Philip Butler,
Visitor Services Manager, Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust on 01942
827594 or visit
www.wlct.org/heritage
-ends-
NOTES TO EDITORS: For further information on this press release please
contact Chris Dunbar, Media and Public Relations Manager, on 01942
486937 or at c.dunbar@wlct.org. Alternatively contact Sam Goody at the
HLF on 020 7591 6033 or at
samanthag@hlf.org.uk Out of hours: 07870 581599.
The Heritage Lottery Fund enables communities to celebrate, look after
and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and
historic buildings, to local parks and beauty spots or recording and
celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our
nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. HLF has supported more than
18,000 projects, allocating over £3.3billion across the UK.
www.hlf.org.uk
The History Shop: The History Shop currently offers a unique interactive
heritage experience allowing visitors to explore galleries spread over
two floors, and engage with local and family history resources in the
well equipped study area.
Currently, only the ground floor currently has disabled access. The
shop, the art gallery, the Wickham gallery, the meeting room and the
toilet facilities all fully accessible. On the first floor, the Taylor
Gallery houses an exhibition 'Founded on Coal' telling the story of our
borough, a temporary exhibition area and the study area.
Access is available to local history such as newspapers, maps and
photographs and family history resources from the archive collection
like parish records and census returns. The building currently offers a
meeting room for local groups and societies, a volunteer programme and a
Friends group for people wanting to get involved in local heritage.
Current Opening Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - 10:30 - 3:00
Saturday 10:00 - 1:00
Wednesday and Sunday - Closed
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust: Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust is a
charitable trust working on behalf of Wigan Council to manage and
support leisure and cultural facilities, initiatives and events for over
300,000 residents in the Wigan Borough. See
www.wlct.org
Getting Wigan Active: Getting Wigan Active is Wigan Leisure and Culture
Trust’s vision to help people across the Wigan Borough to become more
physically, mentally and creatively active. It also aims to increase
community activity and to encourage good citizenship.
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Wigan’s historic History Shop
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