A team restoring and regenerating Great Yarmouth’s historic buildings has been awarded a grant worth half a million pounds.

%image(14560211, type="article-full", alt="The "jetted" section of 160 King Street, Yarmouth's last timber-framed building. Photo: Liz Coates")

Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT) is engaged in various projects around the town, including converting former churches and towers into holiday accommodation.

One of their projects is the restoration of 160 King Street, a 16th century timber frame building, for which the trust has received a grant of £350,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund.

Darren Barker, project director at GYPT, said: "Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust is delighted to receive such incredible support from the Architectural Heritage Fund. The grant means that we can preserve and reuse precious historic buildings which might otherwise be lost.

"It will enable us to build capacity and push ahead with our ambitious five-year plan using heritage as a vehicle for positive change and regeneration."

%image(14560212, type="article-full", alt="Things are looking up for the last timber-framed building in Great Yarmouth, 160 King Street. Picture: Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust")

160 King Street is Great Yarmouth's only surviving example of a 16th century jettied timber frame building.

The jettied upper floor was characteristic of 'row' houses, and this is one of the only row houses that still exists in the town.

A report from the council in 2017 showed that the timber-framed building fell into disrepair after being neglected since 2001.

Councillors then voted for the compulsory purchase of the site in a bid to save the historic structure.

The report said the building offered "a direct link with the town's medieval origins and is a rare survivor".

Once restored, the property will provide a commercial space on the ground floor and residential space above.

The Architectural Heritage Fund has also awarded the trust a heritage development pilot grant of £147,643.

The grant will help the trust adapt five projects across Yarmouth's town centre.

These include a number of listed former houses and an historic pub converted for a mix of affordable housing, tourism and commercial use, as well as a Victorian church and 14th-century flint and brickwork round tower, part of the town's medieval town wall, that will be adapted for holiday accommodation.

A spokesperson for the Architectural Heritage Fund said: "Together, these projects will leave a legacy of additional affordable housing and an expanded tourist economy in the town."