A MONUMENT to a Napoleonic war hero is getting a funding boost from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales.

The Anglesey Column Trust in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll is receiving £872,800 to repair and renovate the Marquess of Anglesey’s Column and cottage.

Erected in 1817, the Grade II* Listed Marquess of Anglesey’s Column celebrates the bravery of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, who lost his leg at the battle of Waterloo.

The 29-metre-high monument was a very popular attraction for tourists and local people for generations, but it closed in 2014 for safety reasons.

Now, thanks to the funding, the Anglesey Column Trust will be able to press ahead with its plans to restore and re-open the column and build a spectacular, fully accessible tree canopy viewing platform.

The plans include bringing the Marquess of Anglesey’s fascinating story to life at a new visitor centre which will create job and volunteering opportunities in the local area. There will also be a shop and café opened on site.

The 8th Marquess of Anglesey and Chair of the Anglesey Column Trust Committee said: “This is incredibly good news for our project and we’re extremely grateful to both the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their award and of course to National Lottery players who made it possible.

"Since we launched our campaign to restore and reopen the Column, the support and positive feedback we’ve received from the local community and interest groups has been fantastic.

"The overwhelming response has been that people want to be able to enjoy the Column site again and that its heritage and history are very important to a great number of people.

"We still need to raise a significant amount of money to match fund the grant offers we've received to date, but today's news is a huge stride in the right direction and it’s great to know that we are a step closer to preserving the Column for generations to come.”

In 2018 The Anglesey Column Trust received development funds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund Project Viability Grant, the Gaynor Cemlyn Jones Trust and the Anglesey Charitable Trust, along with private donors, to undertake the necessary technical work to get the project started.

In order to secure this major grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and to meet the costs of the project in full, the Trust must raise the remaining £580,000 from other sources.

Funding commitments of £320k have already been received and the Trust is awaiting decisions from a variety of other funders with the hope of starting work on site in September 2021 and opening in June 2022.

In south Wales, Cardiff Council will be restoring key buildings and improving habitat for nesting gulls and maritime plant life on Flat Holm island thanks to a £645,200 award.

The island’s old cholera hospital and laundry buildings will be made stable and the roof of the foghorn station repaired to make it safe and accessible to the public.

Andrew White, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales said: “It’s a pleasure to announce that The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales is funding the Anglesey Column Trust and Cardiff Council to restore and preserve for today’s and future generations some of the very finest examples of Wales’s heritage.

“Over the last 12 months The National Lottery Heritage Fund has supported the heritage sector in Wales – including historic buildings; industrial and maritime sites; museums; libraries; gardens; landscapes and nature; with over £18 million in funding."

• For more information about how to apply for National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales grant programmes, please visit: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding