HMS Unicorn receives 'game changing' £1.1m restoration funding

HMS Unicorn was moved to Dundee in 1873

HMS Unicorn, Scotland's oldest ship, has received £1.11m in funding towards its continued restoration and preservation.

The preservation work is restoring strength and robustness to the hull to improve resilience ahead of a planned move to a nearby dry dock.

The ship, which was moved to Dundee in 1873, will be the centrepiece of a new maritime heritage centre.

The donation comes from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).

The Unicorn Preservation Society said the money provided 95.69% of the total financial investment needed for immediate conservation repairs to the ship, which launched in 1824.

The restoration work includes replacing rotten timbers in the hull of the ship and retaining as much of the original fabric as possible.

This work follows recently-completed £100,000 repairs to the ship's original roof to help prevent rainwater causing further internal damage.

• HMS Unicorn goes under the microscope for preservation project

• Natasha Raskin Sharp goes on board the HMS Unicorn in Dundee

Ray Macfarlane from the NHMF said: "It is not only the oldest ship in Scotland but one of the oldest in the world, and incredibly one of the last remaining warships from the age of sail, still afloat."

HMS Unicorn is the third-oldest ship in the world and has been under the care of the Unicorn Preservation Society since 1968.

The latest preservation work is expected to be completed in about 18 months. The ship will remain open to visitors while the work is carried out.

HMS Unicorn is the third-oldest ship in the world

Museum director, Matthew Bellhouse Moran, said: "This is an absolute game changer for us as a charity as it allows us to press on with the critical preservation work which desperately needs to take place and is long overdue.

"This work is essential to preserve the historic fabric of this much-loved ship, replacing rotten and missing timbers which is causing rapidly accelerating structural damage and strain."

A £20,000 donation by American entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, in November 2022 and a £100,000 grant received from the Headley Trust in February provided the remaining funds required to carry out the immediate conversation work.