Priory House in Dunstable secures £1.2m restoration funds

The stone-vaulted undercroft at Priory House is to be restored

More than £1.2m of work is due to begin on a house with a "rare and almost complete" 13th Century cellar.

Grade II* listed Priory House in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, is on Historic England's At Risk Register.

Its ancient undercroft is suffering from environmental and structural issues, as well as flooding.

The project will support further repair work necessary to conserve the medieval vaults and see the tearooms back in use at full capacity.

Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, it will also see the first floor exhibition space refreshed and reopened for public events.

Priory House - pictured before the start of restoration work - is on Historic England's At Risk Register

Priory House is one of the oldest buildings in Dunstable, along with the Priory Church, and has had a varied history in which it has also been a guest house and an early example of a mental health hospital.

Trudi Hughes, from Historic England, said: "We now understand all of the issues which have been causing concern over many years - including occasional falls of stone internally, periodic flooding, structural discontinuities in the building fabric, and an increasing inability for the building's drainage to deal with increased rainfall.

"The archaeological research which has been carried out as part of this project has shone a helpful light on the surviving medieval fabric."

The project is being funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England

Dunstable's town mayor, councillor Liz Jones, said: "I am thrilled for the generous support from Historic England and The National Heritage Lottery Fund.

"This funding secures the future of a cherished landmark on Dunstable's High Street."

The National Lottery has awarded a grant of £1,142,730, while Historic England will contribute £126,970.

The work is planned to be completed by August and will see Priory House removed from the Heritage At Risk Register.

The project will support repair work necessary to conserve Priory House's medieval vaults