Fr Adam Gaunt (top picture, by the drift mine), Rector of Loftus and Carlin How with Skinningrove, has welcomed a grant of £800,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum in Skinningrove.

Fr Adam chairs the Trustees at the museum, a major East Cleveland tourist attraction, which is set to double in size thanks to the grant which match-funds £800,000 already given by the Coastal Communities Fund.

Popular guided tours of the mine will be augmented by a large walk-round museum with displays about Cleveland mining and steel. It will also include state of the art artefact and document storage, two fully equipped teaching rooms, offices and a maintenance area. Work is expected to start on the museum in June 2018 and be finished in time for the 2019 summer tourist season.

Fr Adam (showing the museum site, lower picture) said, “This significant investment in the Mining Museum isn’t just great news for our Museum, it is good news for the whole of East Cleveland! Teesside is built on iron and steel and our new buildings will provide a museum that truly celebrates our magnificent industrial heritage.

“Moreover, this project will further enhance Skinningrove village as a tourist destination inevitably leading to further employment opportunities through this heritage-led regeneration project. I wish to thank the team at the museum, staff at HLF North East, colleagues at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Hidden Horizons who have mentored us through an organisational restructure, and all who have supported us through the bidding process. We now move forwards together to make our vision a reality.

“This is an example of how we are working outside of church buildings and in engaging the wider community, especially in communities like Skinningrove, where we work to help regenerate and rejuvenate the communities we are called to serve.”

  • As well as the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, the HLF has awarded a grant of £578,000 to the Kirkleatham Walled Garden Project to continue the development works as well as funding a heritage-related activity officer.
  • Further information about the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum can be found at ironstonemuseum.co.uk.