One of Coventry’s oldest streets is to receive further funding for restoration work.
Historic Coventry Trust has been awarded a £500,000 Capital Works Grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund’s (AHF) Heritage Revival Fund, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The Trust is to use the money to transform empty upper floors on Burges into 17 artists’ studios, six visitor accommodation flats and retail units.
The buildings at 18-20 and 21-24 Burges, known as Palmer House, have origins in the medieval period but been left to decline.
The ground floor of 18-20 and the first and second floors of all of them are currently vacant and in poor condition.
The money will go towards architect fees, surveys, project management, building repairs, strip out and some fit-out costs.
Historic Coventry Trust will restore the buildings and create the studios, visitor flats and retail shops as well as help to build an arts community in the surrounding part of the city centre.
Work is due to start next February and be completed by September.
Ian Harrabin, Chair of Historic Coventry Trust, said although the street frontages have changed over the centuries, the interiors and rear elevations had medieval origins.
He said: “These are some of the oldest buildings left in Coventry and this grant will enable Historic Coventry Trust to repair these vitally important properties to a high standard.
“It is part of wider works going on in the Palmer Lane area to revitalise the whole area and bring energy back to this historic part of the city.
“We will save these buildings from further decay and provide much-needed space for Coventry artists as well as make it more attractive to visit.
“Putting studios in medieval buildings means history is kept alive and in use, and it brings creative people and visitors into the heart of the city.”
Burges dates back to as early as the 13th century and is one of the few traditional historic high streets left in Coventry.
Historic maps show the buildings laid out in medieval ‘burgage plots’. Part of the street was demolished to make way for road improvements, and several buildings were damaged in the Second World War, which makes the surviving buildings all the more important.
The name “Burges” is said to be a corruption of Bridges, as the road crosses two bridges which are now underground and no longer visible.
Previous investment in Burges through Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone has supported the transformation of 14 buildings and 16 shop fronts in this area.
David Porter