Lottery joy for Welsh landmarks

Plans for Llanelly House have been on the drawing board for almost a decade

Two historic Welsh buildings are to get a makeover thanks to almost £7m of Heritage Lottery funding.

Llanelly House will be transformed from its current derelict state into a Heritage Centre and café-restaurant.

A finalist in the first BBC Restoration series, its backers include celebrity designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

The future of Shire Hall in Monmouth, described as the most important public building in the UK to survive from the reign of George I, is also secured.

Built in 1714 Llanelly House, one of the oldest town houses in Wales, has provisionally been awarded £3.6m.

It was the Welsh finalist in the 2003 series of BBC2's Restoration, when it lost to Manchester's Victoria Baths in a public vote for the £3.4m first prize.

Campaigners have been working for almost a decade to raise funding to secure its future.

The restoration to the property both internally and externally will help transform it into a community heritage centre with exhibition and interpretation space, a café-restaurant and a dedicated area for community usage.

This has been a long time coming, but the wait has really been worth it Carl Lucas, Llanelli Town Council

The £4.9m plan to return the house to sustainable usage will build on efforts to regenerate the northern town centre of Llanelli.

As part of the programme, environmental improvements, including the closure to traffic of Bridge Street, adjacent to Llanelly House, will be completed by November.

Llanelli Town Council leader Carl Lucas said: "We're absolutely over the moon.

"This has been a long time coming, but the wait has really been worth it as it vindicates the faith, which the council has had in this project from the very beginning.

"We are well and truly on our way to seeing this historic building properly restored and brought back to full use."

A £3.1m grant will also restore the Grade I Shire Hall in Monmouth and open it up for many more people to use.

It is listed for its architectural merits as well as its historical associations.

Leading Chartists from the Newport uprising were tried at the Shire Hall

Constructed in 1724, the building played an important part in Welsh political history with leading Chartists from the Newport uprising of 1840 tried and sentenced to death there.

The town was the birthplace of Henry V and Charles Rolls, and Shire Hall is home to statues in their honour as well as the Henry V tapestry.

Displays will be created to telling the story of the Chartists' trials and other themes, and an education centre with a small library and teaching area will be developed.

Additional spaces that will be opened up for the first time include the magistrates' room and the basement which will include replica gaol cells to give visitors an impression of what it would have been like for those awaiting trial in the courtrooms above.

Bob Greenland, deputy leader of Monmouthshire council, said: "Without the funding from Heritage Lottery Fund this project would not have become a reality."

Dan Clayton Jones, chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Wales, said: "It is fantastic news that this lottery money will safeguard important Welsh heritage, which would otherwise be lost.

"In both cases, the public has shown enormous support for the projects, which will breathe new life into these significant landmarks."