{"id":48470,"date":"2026-10-27T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=48470"},"modified":"2026-10-26T13:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T13:57:12","slug":"heritage-fund-reopening-dewsbury-arcade-as-the-uks-first-community-run-shopping-centre-home-to-16-affordable-small-shops-studios-event-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=48470","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Fund: Reopening Dewsbury Arcade as the UK\u2019s first community-run shopping centre\u2026 \u2018home to 16 affordable small shops\u2026 studios &\u2026 event space\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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image: Kingsway Arcade, Dewsbury by\u00a0Bobby Clegg, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the help of \u00a34.5million from the Heritage Fund, customers are back under the restored glass and cast-iron roof of Grade II listed Dewsbury Arcade for the first time in a decade, saved through dedicated community action and The Heritage Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Heritage Fund writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arcade has been restored to its former 19th-century elegance while also being made fit for the future as a modern hub for independent businesses and local creators. It\u2019s now home to 16 affordable small shops, artists\u2019 studios and an event space. Jenny Holden-Stokes, Arcade Manager, said: \u2018Our fantastic local traders are ready to bring the buzz back to Dewsbury.\u2019?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heritage-led regeneration <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First opened in 1899, the arcade reflects the changing story of high streets and town centre shopping, from its golden years in the 1950s and 1960s to its decline as shopping habits changed in the early 2000s. Its last shop tenants left in 2016.  Our 2023 grant has funded the restoration of some of the building\u2019s finest features, including timber shopfronts, ornate ironwork and the glass canopy roof \u2013 replaced by local heritage glazing specialists to once again flood the central thoroughfare with natural light. Reopening the arcade is the first project in Kirklees Council\u2019s 10-year town centre investment plan to make improvements that benefit local people, encourage more visitors and boost trading opportunities. After the arcade was bought by Kirklees Council, local residences and businesses formed The Arcade Group, a community benefit society, to lease and manage the building. They aimed to bring it back into use as a place for people to meet, shop and feel pride in where they live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empowering communities to take ownership of their heritage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewsbury Arcade is just one example of a project we\u2019ve funded that\u2019s helping a community take ownership of a heritage site that matters to them. From pubs and town halls to parks and tombs, these places have been saved and revitalised with a new purpose in the community:<\/p>\n\n\n\n