The local community group Chadderton Together receive a £9,500 grant from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
This grant money will be used to support campaigning and fundraising efforts for the hall’s refurbishment to bring it back into community use.
The two year licensing arrangement granted to Chadderton Together from Oldham Council gives them permission to access other funding streams with the goal dream of seeing Foxdenton Hall and the Pavilion renewed to its former glory. Oldham has the most Grade II listed buildings in Greater Manchester, outside Manchester itself. Foxdenton Hall is the only Grade II listed building in Chadderton and because of its beauty, its setting and its history a real asset to the community.
Rev John Simmons Chair of Chadderton Together said: “Receiving this Heritage Lottery Fund grant is such good news for us! It is a real confirmation that this project has legs and a significant step forward in our campaign to preserve the hall. We received some money from the Architectural Heritage Fund a while back and now along with this grant we can make some strides forward.
He emphasised: “Whilst this grant has given our campaign a great boost we still have much work ahead of us. There is a lot of work to be done to prepare a bid so we need architectural drawings and surveys to be carried out, planning and costings to be arranged. There is so much paperwork involved which is tied up in other local projects as well. A lot of the time it is very much a balancing act in order to adhere to timescales and to hit deadlines.”
Rev Simmons added: “We have lots of plans to put on fundraising events but in order to run those events we desperately need more volunteers to come forward. We still need visionaries, entrepreneurs and those with great ideas to come forward and help us to prepare a business case for future use of the hall too.”
Nathan Lee, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, said: “We’re delighted to support Chadderton Together in working to save this important and historic local building for their community. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the group will be able to significantly develop the project to restore and manage Foxdenton Hall, preserving Oldham’s rich heritage for future generations.”
The Grade II* listed building has fallen into disrepair having been closed to the public for several years due to safety reasons. Local historians and community groups keen to save this beautiful manor house need to enlist the help of the public through Chadderton Together in order to save Oldham’s heritage.
