Hadrian's Wall secures Lottery funding

(British Tourist Authority)

Hadrian's Wall and the National Maritime Museum have secured £9m funding, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced today.

The funding will be used to transform the sites and improve the facilities for visitors.

Hadrian's Wall, in Northumberland, will use £4m to build an education centre and new galleries for displaying ancient artefacts.

The Vindolanda Trust, the archaeological body in charge of the project, will also release a collection of items which have never been displayed before.

Historian Dan Snow said: "Vindolanda is one of the most important Roman sites in the world.

"Discoveries being made there are scrutinised as avidly in Syria and Libya as they are in Northern England. Yet the first thing the visitor notices there are the vast unexcavated spaces in and around the fort.

"What further treasures will the ground yield? We can be absolutely certain that the story of Vindolanda is not nearly complete."

The National Maritime Museum will use its award of £5m to create a new entrance directly from Greenwich Park and expand its galleries, which explain Britain's global influence through its explorers, traders, migrants and naval power.

Dr Kevin Fewster, director of the National Maritime Museum, said: "The project signals a new chapter in the way the National Maritime Museum relates to its surroundings and to its visitors, creating greater cohesion between all our venues and the rest of the Greenwich World Heritage Site."

The Historic Royal Palaces were not so lucky, just missing out on a grant from the HLF.

Although the bid was turned down as a result of huge cuts in the HLF's funding pot, Historic Royal Palaces remains committed to its plans to redevelop Kensington Palace.

Plans at the palace include creating new public gardens and building a new visitor entrance.

Michael Day, chief executive of Historic Royal Palaces said: "We are obviously very disappointed the HLF is not able to support our project for Kensington Palace, but we believe that over the past two years we have developed an excellent scheme that will transform the palace into an exciting, engaging and inspirational visitor experience for the widest possible audience."