Historic Scotland funding for eight iconic sites
AN historic cemetery, an observatory and a Victorian factory are among the latest sites to benefit from a £1.6 million investment scheme to open them up to the public.
Parts of Glasgow’s Necropolis and the City Observatory on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill will be repaired or restored under Historic Scotland’s building repairs grants scheme.
In total, eight sites will share the grant which is designed to increase community engagement around historic sites.
Castle Mill Works, the former North British Rubber Factory in Edinburgh, Westmuir Street School in Glasgow, St Andrews Harbour, Ferryhill engine shed in Aberdeen, Glasgow’s Alexandra Park and the Stovehouse in Auchincruive, South Ayrshire, will also benefit from the funding.
Within the Jewish enclosure in the Necropolis, fifteen fallen headstones are to be repaired along with a staircase and rubble wall while plans also include creating a viewing area and information boards outlining the history of the graveyard with funding of £13,000.
Plans for the City Observatory, which is part of Edinburgh’s Unesco World Heritage Site, will see the buildings restored with the aid of £233,000 to create an art gallery, cafe and event space to allow public access to the site for the first time.
The funding recipients were announced by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop on a visit to Castle Mill Works in Edinburgh today.
The building is to be given a £500,000 makeover by Edinburgh Printmakers, who want to create an internationally-recognised centre for excellence in printmaking and a hub for arts and community projects.
Ms Hyslop said: “This scheme helps to protect and promote, as well as transform and bring back into use, some of Scotland’s most historically and architecturally significant buildings.
“This magnificent former Victorian factory in Fountainbridge is one of eight projects in total, throughout Scotland, to receive grant funding and aims to see this derelict building once again filled with purpose and a take on a new role as a creative arts hub.”
Alastair Snow, chair of Edinburgh Printmakers, said: “We are delighted with this award from Historic Scotland and recognition of the heritage value of this building.”