Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone

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Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone 2020-2024

In 2020 Redruth received a share of the £95 million-pound High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) fund, one of only 10 places across the South West to benefit from this national scheme. It followed a bid led by Cornwall Council in partnership with the key stakeholders in Redruth who came together to form the Redruth HSHAZ Project Board. The grant of £1.6 million pounds awarded by Historic England has now been fully allocated as we move into the final months of project delivery.

The investment has acted as a catalyst for heritage-led regeneration

Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone 2020-2024

In 2020 Redruth received a share of the £95 million-pound High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) fund, one of only 10 places across the South West to benefit from this national scheme. It followed a bid led by Cornwall Council in partnership with the key stakeholders in Redruth who came together to form the Redruth HSHAZ Project Board. The grant of £1.6 million pounds awarded by Historic England has now been fully allocated as we move into the final months of project delivery.

The investment has acted as a catalyst for heritage-led regeneration to improve the prosperity of the town centre so that it can continue to serve the local community and businesses, adapting to the challenges that all high streets have experienced over the last few decades.

An additional challenge to the project has been the impact of Covid19 on the town centre, with the first year of the HSHAZ project delivery starting just as we went into lockdown, and we are now seeing the impact of the cost of living on the town centre’s economy.

The key focus of the Redruth HSHAZ scheme has been:

  • Establishing Redruth HSHAZ Project Board comprising local stakeholders, to help shape and oversee the delivery of the investment programme
  • Establishing Redruth HSHAZ Cultural Consortium to develop and deliver ‘Redruth Unlimited’, a cultural commissioning programme that has supported numerous events and activities to help attract more people to the town centre
  • Delivering a ‘Key Building Property Improvement Grant Scheme’ which has supported a number of organisations and local businesses benefit from capital funding, including redeveloping the former Passmore Edwards library as a creative community hub, purchasing the former HSBC bank and improvements to Murdoch House
  • Developing two key sites in the town centre: the Buttermarket cluster of historic buildings and the former London Inn
  • Engaging Redruth’s community, businesses and other stakeholders in developing a master plan and subsequent long-term spatial strategy and investment plan for the town centre
  • Carrying out public realm and access improvements
  • Investing in branding, marketing and communications

Read more below to find out what's happening in Redruth.

Redruth Unlimited

Cornwall Council and Redruth HSHAZ Cultural Consortium were awarded a grant of £80,000 from Historic England as part of the Redruth High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) to commission community-led cultural activities in the town centre over the next three years.

The Redruth Unlimited grant scheme was launch on 19 May 2021, and all funding for projects has since been allocated.

Ross Williams, Chair of Redruth Cultural Consortium, said: “This is another vote of confidence in Redruth’s ability to deliver effective and exciting work from our varied communities and we believe it will add great value to the investment in our buildings and our historic town environment which is already under way. The Cultural Consortium has brought together a very wide range of organisations and people who are committed to empowering local people and giving them the chance to use their creativity to develop new visions of how we make the most of our town centres.”

Rose Barnecut, FEAST Director, said: “This is a great opportunity to develop really creative projects unique to this historic town, projects which use local networks, knowledge and assets to involve the widest possible range of people. Redruth is a special place and we want special ideas. Artists and creative thinkers needed!”. FEAST, an experienced arts organisation, will support Redruth Cultural Consortium in commissioning the projects which make a difference for Redruth.

Key Buildings Grant Scheme

A key part of the Redruth HSHAZ scheme was the delivery of the Key Buildings Property Improvement Grant Scheme which provided capital funding to invest in high priority historic properties in the Redruth HSHAZ scheme area.

Property owners applied for grant funding for eligible works that included: shop frontages and signage, improved accessibility, bringing underused or vacant properties back into use; reinstatement or improvement of historical architectural features.

Amongst the projects that were funded was the purchase of the former HSBC bank building (81 Fore Street) by Redruth Revival CIC, urgent conservation works to enable the former Passmore Edward library and college building to reopened as ‘The Ladder’, the refurbishment of Murdoch House to celebrate the life of William Murdoch and improvements to St Rumon’s Club.

This funding is now fully allocated.

  • Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone: Independent evaluation Report - Request for Quotation

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    Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone: Independent evaluation Report

    Cornwall Council is looking to commission an independent evaluation of the Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone project.

    In the final year of a four-year delivering programme that will complete at the end of March 2024, Cornwall Council, Historic England and the Redruth HSHAZ Project Board is looking to contract an independent evaluation of the Redruth HSHAZ scheme with the ambition of capturing the successes and lessons learned to inform future heritage-led town centre regeneration projects in Redruth, Cornwall and wider afield.

    Please provide your most competitive price and all other relevant details including lead time and quotation validity. Read the full Request for Quotation here or by looking in the Documents section on the RHSHAZ sidebar.

    Written quotations are required by: 12 noon on Friday 16 June 2023

  • The Redruth Former Library CIC purchase the Passmore Edwards building

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    The LadderThe former Redruth Library, founded by Cornish philanthropist John Passmore Edwards, now known as The Ladder, has been awarded £430,000 to repair and bring the building back into use under their ownership. The funding was secured as part of the recent Devolution Deal negotiations between the government and Cornwall Council.

    This follows a grant of £168,000 awarded from Historic England to carry out emergency works to the building as part of the Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone project. Works to make the building wind and watertight are now complete, and have brought areas back into use for occupancy.

    The Architectural Heritage Fund’s (AHF) Transforming Places through Heritage programme, supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has awarded its final grants that will contribute to high streets and town centres in Cornwall, Cumbria and Norfolk. An AHF Project Development Grant, awarded as part of this final batch of Transforming Places grants, will “help progress the architectural and wider development work” of the project in the former Redruth Library, now The Ladder.

    The Ladder will officially launch on the 27th of May, where there will be opportunities to have tours of the building.


    Felix Mortimer & Joshua Nawras, Directors of Redruth Former Library CIC.
    Photo: Flo Louise



    Gavin Richards, Transforming Places Manager at the AHF, said:

    “We are very pleased to be supporting Redruth Former Library CIC through this final round of Transforming Places through Heritage grants, and to help progress the development of this fantastic project to regenerate the former Redruth Library for the benefit of the whole community.”


    The Community Interest Company charged with an ambition to revive Redruth are inspired to carry on Passmore’s approach to social mobility and education for all. The Redruth Library CIC, an experienced operator with compelling intentions, plans to use the Devolution Deal funds to regenerate the former Library – now known as The Ladder - and to celebrate and nurture this important part of a Cornish community.


    Founder of The Writers’ Block Amanda Harris, middle: Grace Davies, right: Helen Reynolds.
    Photo: Flo Louise



    The Ladder along with its tenants will support organisations that will create up to 60 jobs paying Living Wage and enhancing the skills, education, and opportunities of the people of the town.

    Offering beautiful views across the town, The Ladder will also provide a variety of workspaces, a nursery, community and arts activities, and garden for Redruth. The CIC’s focus is to support immediate communities, to draw wider attention to the historic town.

    The Ladder has strong initiatives with local schools through The Writers’ Block group, whose hyper-local approach will help provide access for everyone.

    The project will also restore a sense of civic pride by renovating a heritage asset for the community (the former library is a Grade II listed building), giving the people of Redruth, especially children and young people, a place to go to enhance and develop their skills.

    John Passmore Edwards (1823 – 1911) devoted a large amount of his wealth to this small Cornish town 130 years ago. Passmore expressed the need “to place the means of education within the reach of every child in the kingdom”, so that when the local mining industry collapsed, the wealth on top of the Cornish soil could be cultivated. He bequeathed £2,000 for the construction of the library which was matched by Octavius Allen Ferris of Truro.


    Felix Mortimer, one of the directors of Redruth Former Library CIC said:

    “The Ladder is delighted to be starting a project to benefit local residents. The cultural significance of the town is bubbling beneath the surface. This project should make a real difference to people’s lives here, both to connect and for economic growth.”


    Joshua Nawras, one of the directors of Redruth Former Library CIC, said:

    “Being able to purchase the building will ensure that the people of Redruth will benefit from a high-quality resource to build skills and community for generations to come. We are in the very early stages of the project at the moment, but we are already overwhelmed by the goodwill and enthusiasm about the project.”


    Regional Director at Historic England, Rebecca Barrett said:

    “We’re delighted that High Street Heritage Action Zone funding has helped secure the building and act as a catalyst for this further significant investment. It’s wonderful news for Passmore Edward’s library and for Redruth.”


    The Ladder will officially launch on the 27th of May, where there will be opportunities to have tours of the building.

    Inside the library building. Photo: Flo Louise


  • Redruth Revival CIC - Open to evaluator tenders for the Buttermarket

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    Redruth Revival CIC is looking for an external evaluator for the project 'Redruth Buttermarket - Rediscovering the Market Town', which is part of the Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme.

    Read the tender brief here to see if you would like to apply.

    This brief sets out the requirements for the evaluation which is expected to run from early in the delivery phase which started on site in January 2023 until the completion of the Final Evaluation Report, expected to be within 6 months of the end of the Activity Programme, currently projected as January 2027, so it covers both the construction phase and the three-year activity phase.

    Tenderers are asked to confirm that they intend to bid by sending an email to ross@pendriggy.co.uk

    Deadline for Questions is 5pm, Wednesday 15th February
    Tender Period Closes 5pm, Monday 20th February

  • Redruth Business Survey 2022

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    We have just launched our Redruth Business Survey, which is a part of our Redruth High Street HAZ project.

    The purpose of this survey is to gather a baseline data set to monitor the ongoing economic vitality and development of Redruth town centre.

    This survey is for anyone who owns, is employed by, works with, or volunteers for a business or organisation in Redruth.

    The deadline for submissions is midnight on Monday 31st October.

    All information will be considered as part of the wider Redruth Town Centre Masterplan and Redruth Town Vitality Funding schemes.

    If you're involved with a business in Redruth, please help us by completing the survey!

  • Some exciting new events coming up in April & May!

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    We have a handful of events coming up this April & May that will be great for businesses and residents alike!

    Rise & Shine

    Friday 15 April, 7.30 am - 9.00 am, Held at The Art Room (next to Home Ground Coffee Shop, Fore Street)

    These get togethers are a chance for Redruth businesses to meet and talk, share exciting ideas and discover what's happening in the town - join us and be involved!

    At these sessions we'll be chatting about plans for the former Redruth Library and the Redruth HSHAZ scheme. The business community is a vital part of the future of Redruth town centre and we want to hear from you!

    If you're interested in coming along, text YES, and your business name & session (either Rise & Shine or Cakey Coffee) to 07547 671 367.

    For further information, please contact cheryl.welsh@cornwall.gov.uk


    Cakey Coffee

    Friday 29 April, 4.00 pm - 6.00 pm. Held at The Art Room

    These get togethers are a chance for Redruth businesses to meet and talk, share exciting ideas and discover what's happening in the town - join us and be involved!

    If you're interested in coming along, text YES, and your business name & session (either Rise & Shine or Cakey Coffee) to 07547 671 367.

    For further information, please contact cheryl.welsh@cornwall.gov.uk


    Creative Get Together #3

    Friday 6 May, 12.00 pm - 7.00 pm, held at The Art Room

    Come along & have a chat, share ideas and energy, and be a part of all the amazing projects happening in Redruth town centre!

    As always, it's not all talk... there's also a chance to get creative and hands on - all will be revealed on the day!

    For further information, please contact cheryl.welsh@cornwall.gov.uk

  • What do you love about your high street?

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    Today Historic England is asking people “what do you love about your high street?” as the first part of a national conversation on the future of our high streets.


    From 20-26 September, the public body is asking people to share what they love about high streets over social media. Whether it’s the memory of the place you bought your first ever album, a shop that’s become part of your weekend routine, or a place you go to meet friends and family, Historic England wants to hear about it. Those stories will come together to build a national picture of what makes high streets so special and to learn what matters most when it comes to their future.

    To share what you love about the high street, use #HighStreetLove and tag @HistoricEngland.


    Historic England commissioned YouGov to find out how people are feeling about their local high street. 73% of people said their local high street is important to them, 54% of people feel pessimistic about their local high street’s future and 40% feel motivated to take action to help their high street’s future. 71% of people said that they feel personal interactions are important when visiting the high street.


    Historic England is tracking public sentiment on high streets over the four years of their High Streets Heritage Action Zone scheme. New research shows that 92% of people care what their high street looks like and 90% agree that it’s worth trying to save historic features when trying to improve local places.


    Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:

    “What I love about high streets is how they bring people together. Throughout history high streets have been our gathering places; centres of commerce, conversation and community. They help make where we live special. Nearly half of all high streets were built before 1919. They are one of the most visited and enjoyed types of heritage in the country, a connection to our past and a key to our future. We know they are struggling, and their future is uncertain, and we think this is a timely moment to ask people about their future and consider the part we can all play in supporting these important places.”


    Heritage Minister Caroline Dinenage said:

    "High streets are at the heart of our communities and have played a central role in driving economic growth for decades. It is vital we protect them for local people to enjoy long into the future, reimagining and rebooting them for the modern world so they can be proud of where they live. This timely research will help us better understand what people value in their high street and ensure we are providing the right support."


    Historic England is aiming to gain insights into what people value about high streets and what they hope for their future as important social, commercial and physical spaces. Historic England will then create a programme of discussions, commissions and experiments that further explore what high streets could be like in the future, all with the aim of helping people feel empowered to take action for the high street and support its future.

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  • 'We Love Redruth' - new video from Agents4Change and Hedluv & Passman

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    Agents4Change & Hedluv & Passman met in a carpark over lockdown number 3 to create this plea to the peeps in power - the next generation will reap what we sow. Don’t forget the skatepark!


Page last updated: 15 Mar 2024, 02:10 PM