AN IMPORTANT Barrow high street has been awarded £100,000.

Duke Street has received the additional funding from Historic England and hopes to bring activity back into the town centre through cultural events and installations.

It is one of 14 historic North West high streets to be handed the funding from Historic England.

Councillor Helen Wall, Barrow Borough Council spokesperson for heritage, said: “Barrow’s history is remarkable and vastly different from nearly all other towns in the country. It deserves to be better known nationally and celebrated locally.

“This additional funding is yet further good news for Duke Street which played such an important role in the development and culture of the town.

“I am also delighted to learn that a number of businesses have expressed interest in the grants and I hope they will become enthusiastic to learn more about the stories of their buildings and the people involved with them.”

Barrow Borough Council received funding of £1.1 million from Historic England last year for their Re:discover Barrow project.

Re:discover is a four-year programme as part of Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme.

The funding is to be used to reinstate historic shop fronts, carry out building repairs, improve the public open space and deliver a series of cultural events.

The £100,000 award can only be used in designated Conservation Areas and revitalise them through Lost Shops.

Lost Shops is a collaborative community arts programme delivered over four years and will work with residents and shopkeepers to devise an artistic celebration of what Duke Street means to Barrovians.

In Year One, resident’s memories and archival research will be collected and co-curated to produce films that inform and inspire the following programme.

Subsequent years will include interventions such as film projections billboard images, shop window/pavement decals, sound works triggered by passers-by and theatre performances.