Stockport's Bramhall Hall awarded £1.6m to fix roof

The timber framed manor house sits in 70 acres of parkland

A historic Tudor manor house described as a "national treasure" has been awarded £1.6 to fix its roof.

Bramall Hall welcomed 36,000 visitors to Stockport, Greater Manchester, last year.

The Grade I-listed hall has been given the money through Arts Council England's Museum Estates and Development Fund (MEND).

Stockport Council said the building would be at risk if "urgent repairs" were not made.

The funding is intended for vital work beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.

It means additional funding from Stockport Council will now enable the most urgent work to get under way, which includes stripping the structure to relay and replace worn-away tiles and all leadworks and gutters.

Rare artwork

Council leader Mark Hunter said Bramall Hall is "a jewel in Stockport's crown" and a "national treasure".

He said: "We must preserve this first class historic house and its enviable collections for generations to come. It is great news that we have been awarded this funding, which will support us in doing this."

The manor house, which has origins dating back to the middle ages, is home to Tudor wall paintings, a rare surviving example of an Elizabethan pendant plaster ceiling and the work of arts and crafts architect George Faulkner Armitage.

Work is due to start in winter and is expected to take up to two years to complete. The council intends to keep the hall open throughout the repair works.

Bramall Hall is just one of nearly 70 museums and libraries across England to benefit from £33 million through the government's Cultural Investment Fund.

Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre will receive £589,545 to fix its roof, with only areas of the building directly affected by the work closed off to the public.

The Grade II-listed building opened in 1901 and was purpose-built to display the Wrigley Collection of Victorian art.

The Wrigley Collection contains work by influential British painters including pieces by JMW Turner, John Constable, Sir Edwin Landseer and Sir George Clausen.

Charlotte Morris, cabinet member for culture and the economy, said the museum "has been at the heart of our cultural life for more than a century".

Meanwhile, Gallery Oldham will get £287,375. Sale Library, in Trafford, has been awarded £347,000 for its culture hub, while Oldham's Adaptable Library Project, will get £277,000.