Plans to restore a nationally important historic mausoleum in North East Scotland have taken a major step forward with the award of a grant of £80,246 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Now more than 200 years old the Elyza Fraser Mausoleum in Cluny Kirkyard is a category A listed building designed by an internationally noted Scottish architect of the 18th Century.

North East Scotland Preservation Trust (NESPT) own the Mausoleum and have secured the Heritage Fund’s support for a restoration project being developed in partnership with the Friends of the Elyza Fraser Mausoleum.

The Mausoleum was built in 1808 for Miss Elyza Fraser the owner of Castle Fraser (now a National Trust for Scotland property). It was designed by her friend the architect James Byers of Tonley, a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a prominent Jacobite.

Elyza died in 1814 and is buried in her Mausoleum along with several generations of her family, the last interment being in 1946.

Paul Higson, NESPT Project Director, said: “We are delighted that thanks to National Lottery players the Heritage Fund is supporting the restoration project and a wider programme of engagement activities in the local community. The Mausoleum is both an architecturally important building and a valuable link to Elyza’s fascinating life story”.

It estimated the repairs will cost around £166,000 in total and grant funding from Historic Environment Scotland has also been secured.

Thanks to a generous legacy from the late David Paton OBE and ongoing funding raising efforts by the Friends Group, the NESPT is contributing £10,000 to the project. A further £30,000 in grant funding is being sought and, if successful, it is hoped to start work later this year.

The NESPT is a Registered Scottish Charity and Company Limited by Guarantee. It works across the north-east to restore historic buildings and to bring derelict properties back into productive use. Recent examples include the Sail Loft Bunkhouse, Portsoy, the Silversmith’s Quarters, Banff and the John Trail Hotel in Fraserburgh.

For further information contact Paul Higson, NESPT Project Director.

07831 580165; info@nespt.org