Government unlocks £41m to rescue 74 crumbling churches, synagogues and castles across England

The government is spending £41 million to repair and restore 74 historic sites across England, from leaking churches to crumbling castle fortifications, Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross announced on Thursday. The funding is split between the Places of Worship Renewal Fund and the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, both delivered by Historic England and part of the wider £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund. Grants prioritise areas where fundraising is hardest and government money can make the biggest difference.

Dover Castle's defensive fortifications, Queen Victoria's Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, and Brodsworth Hall in Doncaster are among three major national sites sharing a further £10m across this parliament.

Over £18m from the Places of Worship Renewal Fund goes to 51 sites, including Birmingham Cathedral, St Catherine of Siena in Sheffield, and the last surviving synagogue in Lincolnshire and South Humberside, in Grimsby.

Burslem market in Stoke-on-Trent — an 19th-century indoor hall closed since masonry fell in 2003 — will receive £1m of the funding, more than two decades after it was deemed unsafe.