VITAL repairs to a Llanfyllin landmark have attracted £70,000 worth of grant funding, organisers have confirmed.

Two grants, worth £31,000 from the National Lottery heritage Fund and a further £40,000 in match funding will mean repairs to the roof of the Master’s House at Y Dolydd, Llanfyllin Workhouse can be completed.

Organisers say it will also pay for restoring the classical ‘cupola’, a small, dome-like, structure on top of the building, which was once its crowning glory.

The Mayor of Llanfyllin, Cllr Simon Baynes, said he was “thrilled” that the workhouse could now complete it’s scheme of repairs.

“Congratulations to everyone involved in the Llanfyllin Workhouse who have worked so hard over so many years to save and restore this magnificent building,” he said.

“I was a Trustee of the Workhouse for 7 years so I know from first-hand experience how difficult it is to raise money and win grants like these.”

The NLHF’s grant was awarded on condition that the Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust, which owns the workhouse, raised another £40,000 in match funding. This has now been achieved with a further grant of £20,000 from the Pilgrim Trust, one of Britain’s most highly regarded conservation charities, and £15,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation. The Trust’s Sponsor a Slate campaign has raised more than £2,500, and help has come from Cadw and from Powys’s Community Regeneration and Development Fund.

“When I became Mayor of Llanfyllin last May, I made the Master’s House Appeal one of my two official charities so I could not be more thrilled to see this breakthrough,” added Cllr Baynes.

“On behalf of the town of Llanfyllin and the surrounding community, I would like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Cadw, Powys Community Regeneration & Development Fund and all the individual donors for their support.”

Work is expected to begin at the end of August, when the long-eared bats nesting in the roof-space have finished breeding.

Llanfyllin Workhouse has been called the best preserved of all the New Poor Law workhouses in Britain: it houses the Workhouse History Centre, Wales’s only workhouse museum, as well as workshops for local enterprises, a gallery and venue and a 24-bed bunkhouse. The grant will help ensure their future: it will also cover a series of educational initiatives and community projects, including training for roofing apprentices, local awareness days and an exhibition on the Border Architect, Thomas Penson.

Director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Wales – Richard Bellamy says “Thanks to National Lottery players, neglected or run-down historic buildings are not only rescued but conserved for future generations to enjoy and learn from. ‘Repairs, Education and Training at The Master’s House, Llanfyllin Workhouse’ will rejuvenate a much-loved building, showing how it can provide an important link to a community’s roots, while being adapted to meet the needs of today.”