Burslem Wedgwood Institute wins £300,000 grant to further repair work

The money will help make the building weather-tight and safe to access, the council said

A £300,000 grant has been awarded to a heritage project to bring a historic building in Stoke-on-Trent back to life.

The Wedgwood Institute in Burslem is on Historic England's at risk register because it is in such poor condition, the city council said.

Funding from Historic England will ensure work takes place to make it weather-tight and safe to access.

The work will start in the summer and be completed by the end of the year.

The council said although the money "won't solve all of the problems", it will help to bring it closer to being back on track for potential future development and back into public use.

The building on Queen Street was built in 1865 in memory of potter and philanthropist Josiah Wedgwood, as a place to run courses for the working men of Burslem on science, business and the arts.

The building was listed as one of the 10 most at-risk buildings in England and Wales by the Victorian Society

Plans to refurbish the listed former teaching institute were announced in 2015 at a cost then of more than £850,000, using grant money.

It was described then as one of the most at-risk Victorian buildings in England.

But Louise Brennan, Midlands regional director at Historic England, said finding a new use for it was taking time but it could not continue to deteriorate.

"I can't imagine Stoke-on-Trent without the Wedgwood Institute," she said.

"Paid for by public subscription, it's an extraordinarily handsome building that belongs to the people of the city.

"It's no secret that finding the right use for the Wedgwood is taking some time, but we don't want to see the building's condition deteriorate any further."

The institute was built in 1869 as a library and school for ceramics, arts and sciences