We’ve invested £430million since 1980 to keep our most precious treasures in the UK and on public display for us all to enjoy, for generations to come.
The £5m we receive each year from the UK government helps us save heritage ranging from literary collections and archaeological discoveries, to works of art and ancient landscapes.
The Melsonby Hoard is just one example of heritage we’ve saved in the past 12 months. It will go on display at the Yorkshire Museum from 15 May 2026. The King’s Champion Armour, on display at the Tower of London, and the Tudor Heart pendant, which can be seen at the British Museum, were acquired through our two most recent grants.
A collection accessible to all
Stories, objects and places are some of the key elements that make up the heritage of the UK. For 45 years our grants have helped define a collection of these items – and more – which you can enjoy in museums and galleries, archives, historic buildings and the great outdoors.
RRS Discovery was built in Dundee, Scotland in 1901 for one of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s expeditions. It’s the only surviving UK ship from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. We’ve been supporting its restoration since 1981. Our £1.4m grant in 2024 funded urgent repair work to the ship’s wooden structure, which was starting to decay.
The Grade I Iisted Gwrych Castle, in Abergele, North Wales, is one of the nation’s most important country houses. We supported the purchase of the castle in 2018, after 50 years of uncertainty and neglect. Our further grant of £2.6m in 2023 is restoring the roof and floors of the main building, which was at risk of collapse. It’s open to the public most weekends and will be open daily from 6 April until October.
With our £150,000 grant, English Heritage purchased the northern section of Thornborough Henges in Yorkshire, reuniting it with the central and southern henges under one owner for the first time in many years. Often referred to as 'the Stonehenge of the North', the three ancient land monuments date from 3500–2500BC and were ceremonial gathering places for at least 2,000 years.
In 2023, our £90,000 grant helped Ulster Transport Museum acquire seven historic motorcycles ridden in famous races, including the Isle of Man TT. The collection celebrates several generations of some of the greatest road racing champions of all time. They are significant to the local and international motorcycle racing community and show that heritage comes in many different shapes and sizes.
How did it all begin?
At the end of the Second World War, The National Land Fund was created to save land and buildings at risk.
Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said when it was launched in 1946: “We should make through this fund a thankoffering for victory, and a war memorial which, in the judgement of many, is better than any work of art in stone or bronze.
“I should like to think that through this fund we shall dedicate some of the loveliest parts of this land to the memory of those who died in order that we might live in freedom.”
However, the fund went largely unused. Then, in 1977, the sale of the historic Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire caused a public outcry. The loss inspired the passing of the new National Heritage Act in 1980, with the remaining Land Fund money given to the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
We are a fund of last resort. When heritage is at risk – through damage and decay, private sale or when there is only a short time to act – the Memorial Fund is here to help.
Over the past 45 years, we’ve supported the acquisition of important heritage and made it accessible to the people of the UK, creating a public collection that belongs to everyone.
Explore more of the historic objects and places we’ve saved.
We've embedded content from YouTube here. As YouTube may collect personal data and track your viewing behaviour, we'll only load the video after you consent to their use of cookies and similar technologies as described in their privacy policy