OUR TOWER, OUR STORY
Earls Colne Heritage Museum is delighted to announce that it has been successful in its application for a £241,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This grant, “Our Tower, Our Story”, will secure its permanent future, focused on four core principles: saving heritage, environmental protection, community inclusion, and long-term sustainability.
- Purchase of the Water Tower, the Museum’s home since 2005.
The Water Tower is an iconic Grade II listed building, built in 1885, situated on the old Atlas Works of R. Hunt & Co in Earls Colne. With the imminent ending of a lease, the purchase will secure its future, preserving and ensuring its continued public access as a museum.
- Capital Refurbishment
The grant will enable structural improvements, including an accessible toilet, new flooring, secondary glazing for the historic Crittall windows, and an eco-friendly infrared heating to reduce costs and provide a consistent environment, helping preserve the artefacts.
- Reinterpret the museum’s displays and artefacts
As the only museum within the Four Colnes area, the Museum’s primary mission is the preservation of the community’s agricultural, military, and industrial history. By acquiring the freehold of the Water Tower the Museum prevents the loss of these crucial social histories. The investment by the NLHF will fund the revitalisation of displays and collections, bringing them up to modern museum standards to ensure local stories are preserved for generations to come, and reach new audiences.
Gordon Brown, Chair of Earls Colne Heritage Museum. “We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we now have the funding to purchase the Water Tower, ensuring its future as both the Museum and as an iconic village landmark. By securing our freehold, we aren’t just saving the past—we are building a resilient, eco-conscious, and inclusive future.”
For further information, images and interviews, please contact Gordon Brown, Chair of Earls Colne Heritage Museum
on 07979 531695, email chair@echm.org.uk
Earls Colne Heritage Museum
One Reuben Walk,
Earls Colne, Essex
CO6 2SZ
https://www.facebook.com/earlscolneheritagemuseum
Earls Colne Heritage Museum Registered Charity: 1207912
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund