LANDOWNERS and tenant farmers are being offered cash to preserve ancient buildings which tell a story about the past.

Clapham-based Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is offering up to £25,000 to help restore traditional farm buildings important in the landscape on Ingleborough.

The grants, supported by the Heritage Lottery, form part of the trust's four year long Stories in Stone project which focuses on community and heritage projects.

Chris Lodge, Stories in Stone project officer, said: “Traditional farm buildings such as stone-built field barns built in the 18th and 19th centuries are a distinct feature of the area.

"These simple buildings display a range of details of local building traditions and they provide us with valuable information about the area’s rural and social history and how we lived, built, farmed and produced our food. "They are a direct and tangible link to the past and a testament to the skills and craftsmanship of local builders and the sheer hard work of generations of farmers.”

Grants would cover up to 90 percent of the costs-up to a maximum grant of £25,000-with the balance being met by the applicant.

Funding focussed on traditional farm buildings of high importance in terms of their landscape setting, history or architecture.

“Grants are only available for projects that will be completed by autumn 2018 and it’s likely that demand will be high, so if people interested I’d be delighted to receive an application form from them,” he added.

The deadline for applications is 10am on September 26. For more information contact Mr Lodge by emailing chris.lodge@ydmt.org or by phoning 015242 51002. The grant guidance and application form can also be downloaded from www.ydmt.org/resources.