Morecambe Winter Gardens launches £45k crowdfunding appeal to restore unique Victorian floor

Run by the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust Ltd, the historic gem is currently in the middle of a five-year restoration project with funding from Historic England, Theatres Trust and the Arts Council through the Cultural Recovery Fund Round 3.

The new project target is to raise money to fund specialist work to restore the venue’s unique and bespoke beautiful mosaic floor, designed in 1897 by the Campbell Tile Company.

Years of neglect, vandalism and damage have resulted in the floor now being covered and protected but as more people come into the building, more damage will occur if important restoration work is not carried out.

The crowdfunding appeal responds to a small window of opportunity between October 2023 and March 2024 whilst the building is closed to restore and replace the many thousands of tesserae tiles that make up the floor and replace Victorian features that were removed under previous ownership.

The Morecambe Winter Gardens project has already been supported by King Charles III and The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund, who made a substantial donation to this appeal following his visit to Morecambe last year.

A short film telling the story of the historic building and outlining the work required to restore the unique ceramic flooring has been produced to promote the campaign, which includes interviews with Prof Vanessa Toulmin, chair of the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust and a professor at Sheffield University, and Michael Rieveley of the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society.

Morecambe-born Prof Toulmin said: “Generations of local people and visitors to the seaside resort have stepped onto this incredible ceramic floor as they first encounter the splendour of the Morecambe Winter Gardens.

"We now want the public to help us find the funding to allow visitors to walk in the footsteps of past legends of music and performance and to make it a venue for the stars of the future."

The crowdfunding campaign to raise £45,000 - which will cover all restoration costs associated with the project - runs from mid-June until mid-September.

Donations can be made and more information found at https://www.spacehive.com/morecambewintergardens or by visiting the theatre during opening hours.

Everyone who donates will be invited to a special preview event to see the fully restored floor in all its glory when the work is complete, which is hoped to be by Easter 2024.

The Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust Limited is a registered charity completely volunteer run with no paid staff.

With a board of trustees drawn from the local community and more than 45 volunteers, they operate and restore the Grade II* listed theatre.

Volunteers last year alone gave 17,000 hours of time to support the theatre.

Currently on the Buildings at Risk Register, the Winter Gardens is one of the premier examples of Victorian seaside architecture but was left neglected and closed for many decades.

Saved by the Preservation Trust and the former Friends of the Winter Gardens, the building is under restoration, and over the past three years the trust has raised £4.6m and is half-way towards its target, with each grant immediately put back into the phased restoration.