The Greenwich Foundation has received a £100k grant for a two year conservation project at the iconic London landmark the Painted Hall, in the Old Royal Naval College (ONRC).

The ORNC has received the £100K grant from City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder.

The project will make the Painted Hall more accessible and increase the value of the building as a community heritage resource for Londoners. The ONRC says 6% of visitors describe themselves as disabled and it is recognised that disabled and less mobile people still face barriers accessing the hall.

Today the landmark receives around 400,000 visitors every year, with more than a third being from London. It is also a place of learning, benefiting more than 5,500 schoolchildren every year, as well as hosting public events, community workshops and citizenship ceremonies.

Numerous blockbusters have been filmed at the iconic hall in recent years including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Les Misérables and Cinderella.

The Greenwich Foundation was established in 1997 to conserve the buildings and grounds of the ONRC. Artistically and historically the Painted Hall is one of the UK’s most important interiors as well as one of the largest dining halls of its date in Europe, and the place where the body of Admiral Lord Nelson lay in state in 1806. Yet it was built for some of the most impoverished people in the country - old and injured sailors retired from the British Navy.

Alison Gowman, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust committee, said:

“The Painted Hall is visited and admired by thousands of adults and children every year. It is vital that such an iconic building is available for all to see, without barriers or restrictions, making the conservation project extremely important.

“I am pleased we are able to support so many worthwhile charities which are changing lives and providing invaluable services. City Bridge Trust is committed to supporting Londoners to make the city a fairer place to work and live.”

William Palin, Conservation Director, added:

“The Painted Hall is one of Britain’s greatest architectural and artistic treasures, but it is too little known. This project aims to raise it to the national and international prominence it deserves, providing a transformed and enriched visitor experience and helping us to engage with new audiences.”

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £360 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.

ENDS

Media Enquiries

Kristina Drake

Media Officer, City of London Corporation

Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk

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