AN historic industrial site in Church has been given a £75,000 funding boost.

Work on rebuilding and repairing the 200-year-old coke ovens at the former Aspen Colliery site could start as early as March next year following the award from grant-giving body WREN’s FCC Heritage Fund.

Cllr Clare Cleary, cabinet member for regeneration and housing at Hyndburn Council, said the proposed six-month project will prevent further decay of the site and preserve it for generations to come.

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She said: “We are incredibly lucky to have such an historic site on our doorstep and grateful to WREN for helping us to make our restoration project a real possibility.

“Many locals don’t realise the ovens are there, or the key role they played in the region’s economic past, so it will be great to be bring them back to life again – even if they won’t be operational!”

Known locally as the “fairy caves”, the ovens once converted coal from Aspen Colliery off Blackburn Road into coke. This was then used as a smokeless fuel in the nearby steelworks. The ovens closed in 1930, before being declared an ancient monument in 1977.

A set of interpretation boards will be installed at the site once work is complete, so that visitors can find out more about the ovens’ history. Completion of the project will also see the site removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.

WREN is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, biodiversity and heritage projects from funds donated by FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund.

The FCC Heritage Fund covers the repair, maintenance or restoration of a building or structure of historic or architectural importance.

Aspen Colliery Coke Ovens is one of 26 projects awarded a grant from the fund this year.

Peter Moralee, WREN’s grant manager for the FCC Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to be funding such a worthwhile project and helping to safeguard the future of what is one of the country’s most at risk heritage sites. FCC Environment and WREN are dedicated to preserving the past for the benefit of generations to come.”