More than £500,000 of lottery cash is to be sought for Chichester's historic City Walls.
The district executive board agreed to earmark nearly £200,000 as the local contribution towards an ambitious project to repair and conserve the walls, whose foundations date back to Roman times.
The money will also be used to improve access, info
rmation and signage, and develop community involvement, which will include special events, publications and training for guides.
The district council will apply for a total of more than £567,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, making £767,000 available if the bid is successful.
Strong backing for the project is being given by English Heritage. Its inspector of ancient monuments, Dr Richard Massey, said: "Chichester city walls and their associated archaeology are not only of national importance, but have direct relevance to understandings of Roman and post-Roman urban development elsewhere in north-west Europe."
As a public monument, the walls deserved to be 'far better known and celebrated.'
Dr Massey also described the walls, a scheduled ancient monument, as a 'remarkable example of historic continuity in an urban context'.
English Heritage especially endorsed proposals to relating to the management of the walls and the repair and conservation of their historic fabric.
Cllr Nick Thomas, portfolio holder for culture and sport, said the result of the lottery application was likely to be known in September. "This is a whole package of actions which will be presented to the Heritage Lottery Fund," he added.
Arts and heritage development manager Anne Bone said an outline of the bid was warmly received, although there was no guarantee of success.
The full article contains 280 words and appears in OS-Chichester Observer newspaper.
