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Culture as Capital: A Study of the National Lottery Heritage Fund

Part 2 Dissertation 2020
Caitlin Mullard
Newcastle University | UK
Six days a week spinning coloured balls provide the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) with the potential to bankroll the preservation of UK heritage. Since John Major’s government created the National Lottery in 1994, with a percentage from the proceeds of ticket sales going towards ‘good causes,’ the NLHF has been actively distributing funds to support local and national heritage projects. From providing funds to insert accessible toilets in village halls to supporting grand museum projects, the NLHF aims to invigorate provincial life.

Despite the organisation’s intrinsic relationship with spaces of culture and heritage, there has been little discourse within architectural discipline that explores the spatial production and outcomes of NHLF funded projects. This study argues that economic and cultural agendas of the NHLF is not discreetly applied. The pursuit of culture and construction of ‘defined heritage; is at the heart of a quest to maximise power and status, a commodity to be exploited. Through close readings of NLHF funded projects in South Wales and the South West of England, the dissertation explores how core objectives of the NLHF manifest spatially and the consequent social, political and economic impact on these regional communities.

Caitlin Mullard

Tutor(s)
Kieran Connolly
2020
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