A London Hub with Global Reach: World Monuments Fund Britain’s International Impact
Based in the United Kingdom but with a window onto heritage around the globe, World Monuments Fund Britain (WMFB) is a local affiliate office with international impact. Established in 1995 with a gift of $1 million and a bequest from the late Paul Mellon, our London office’s first major undertaking was the restoration of the Small Concert Room at St. George’s became WMF Britain’s first project. Since then, WMF Britain has completed projects at over 50 UK sites and established partnerships with many more on the World Monuments Watch to provide on-site conservation, educational resources, training, and advocacy.
In recent years, our UK office has also worked outside of the UK, supporting heritage projects within communities impacted by conflict thanks to the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund. WMFB often gets involved at the very first stages of a project, when no other organization is able to help, bringing much-needed attention and expertise. Our early involvement often provides a crucial mark of confidence for other organizations to lend their support, creating momentum for preservation initiatives with a lasting impact. This ability to catalyze larger change by working with local communities is part of what makes WMFB’s projects special, whether it’s galvanizing support to save a beloved public pool slated for destruction or using masonry conservation training to provide much-needed income and jobs training to Syrian refugees displaced by war.
A fantasy castle located in Greater London, Strawberry Hill was the creation of author and politician Horace Walpole. It is Britain’s first and finest example of Georgian Gothic Revival architecture, built as a statement itself and to house Walpole’s extraordinary collection of art and antiquities. The family left the castle in 1883, having sold off most of the contents decades earlier, and by the 1990s, the estate had fallen into extreme disrepair. WMF stepped up in 2004, placing Strawberry Hill on the World Monuments Watch and supporting crucial research and planning at the site. These initial steps later grew into a successful multi-million-pound restoration. Today, Strawberry Hill is open to the public, welcoming visitors to admire its inventive and flamboyant design.
The Edwardian Moseley Road Baths—full of rare and elegant architectural details—were set to be closed in 2017 after Birmingham’s city authority announced plans to build a new leisure facility nearby. But the diverse inner-city community of Balsall Heath was given voice by WMF and a coalition of partners to save the baths. Together, we have embarked on an ambitious plan to turn the buildings into a hub for health, well-being, and entertainment. The regeneration of the baths will unite and transform this historic masterpiece into a heritage-led wellbeing, leisure, and cultural destination run with and for local people, and open to the world.
In the chaos caused by the ongoing Yemeni Civil War, the former capital of Ta’izz was badly damaged by shelling. The National Museum—a fine Ottoman palace—was among the heritage places severely impacted. In 2019, with the help of the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund and others,WMF led an initiative to restore both the interior and the exterior so that it could once more be a point of community pride and a sign of the return to normalcy. The international partnership combined WMF-brokered expertise with the knowledge of the Yemen heritage professionals. The result is a beautifully restored building, cherished and used by those who live in the city.
Building Conservation Capacity in Syria and Jordan
Conflict in Syria has led to both humanitarian crises and the deliberate targeting of heritage sites. As part of our response, WMF Britain set up a training program in conservation stonemasonry for Syrian refugees and locals in Jordan and Lebanon. The objective of this British-funded initiative is to give people the skills to look after their own extraordinary heritage and to improve livelihoods in the bargain. To date we have trained over 100 women and men in the art of stonemasonry, several of whom have gone on to find full-time employment in the industry.