Tullie House has been awarded intital support* through Development Stage Funding of up to £522,810 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Made possible by National Lottery players, the funding will help to transform the Museum into a thriving and dynamic hub for heritage, culture, and community wellbeing over the next 10-15 years, showing more of the city’s collections and revealing more of the building’s Victorian heritage.
The funding will allow the Museum to develop their plans in order to apply for a Stage 2 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of circa £4 million. In total Tullie House Trust have identified £35 million of potential capital redevelopments and investment opportunities as part of ‘Project Tullie.’
Andrew Mackay, Director of Tullie House Trust said: “This is fantastic news for Carlisle. Project Tullie will transform Tullie House Museum and we are extremely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for supporting this ambitious and exciting project. The funding will allow the Museum to show more of its collections, engage with more people and inspire people to visit Carlisle. The Heritage Fund’s financial commitment is a great achievement and we are very proud to be able to develop Tullie House for future generations.”
Tullie House was established in 1893 as a museum, public library, and school of art for the people of Carlisle. The buildings have undergone many changes over the decades and the Museum and collections are now managed by Tullie House Trust, an independent charity which last year celebrated its 10th anniversary as a charitable trust.
This ambitious project aims to reveal hidden Victorian architecture and create contemporary, multi-use spaces. It is hoped that parts of the historic building, currently used for collections storage and office space, can be brought back into public use with more collections on display to reveal the stories of the people, places and events that have shaped this historic border city.
The redevelopment plans for the Museum will be carfully refined during an ongoing programme of research, consultation and testing with local communities and groups. The project will aim to answer calls from visitors, who want greater access to the collections and to the stories that they can uncover about Carlisle.
Vega Brennan, Chair of Tullie House Community Board said: “This is hugely exciting news. As Chair of the Community Board we are delighted to be part of the plans to develop and refine the development through a programme of research, consultation and testing with local communities and groups.”
The funding will support a programme of activity to take place throughout 2022 and Tullie House will look to submit their Stage 2 application for the £4m in 2023. To date, Tullie House Trust has raised £3.4 million towards Project Tullie.
