HLF funds expansion of Quarry Bank access

The National Trust is to receive £3.9m in grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a major restoration project at Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate, the preserved industrial revolution community outside Wilmslow.

A spokesman for the National Trust said: "The main focus of the project is to bring the whole story of Quarry Bank back to life, sharing more of this special community which includes the mill, a farm, a village and the homes and workplaces of the owner, mill manager, workers and apprentices – a story of power, people and the birth of industry. Few, if any other sites of comparable significance are as complete or as untouched.

"Working with volunteers and our local communities, National Trust will restore and open up key parts of the property, and work towards helping the local community have a greater sense of ownership of Quarry Bank in the future."

The funding will support the restoration and opening of a worker's cottage and the village shop in Styal Village, restoring the Upper Garden to its former glory, including the restoration of the 1830s curvilinear glasshouse, opening Quarry Bank House to the public and improving access around the site with a new network of paths and roads.

The project will be implemented over a four-year period. The total cost of the project is £9.5m. To date the appeal for private donations has raised £900,000.