THREE coastal heritage sites on the Isle of Wight have been awarded restoration funding from the Government’s Coastal Revival Fund.

The main rotunda entrance at Northwood House, The Dining Car in Ryde and Battery Gardens in Sandown have all been successful in securing £50,000 each.

Northwood House in Cowes is an at risk Listed building, but will now see the roof of the main rotunda entrance repaired, to help restore and renovate the interior of this unique part of the building.

The Dining Car, a rail heritage building on Ryde Esplanade, is described as "currently disused and giving visitors arriving by ferry a poor first impression of the town".

The building will be converted into a station café with an accessible training kitchen, an accessible information and assistance point.

The Battery Recharged, in Sandown, is an abandoned seafront 19th Century Napoleonic fort, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

This will be restored to house a tourism and education facility — The National Poo Museum.

The revival fund is set up to save coastal heritage sites for future generations.

Almost £1m of government funding has been split between 25 coastal projects.

Six of the winning projects include grants for sites which are classed as ‘at risk’ by Historic England, including the Northwood House rotunda.

Coastal communities minister, Jake Berry MP, said: "It's fantastic to be able to kick start the restoration of 25 important sites up and down our Great British coastline.

"From Whitehaven to Weymouth, we're saving some of the nation's most cherished coastal heritage assets and landmarks from falling into disrepair.

"The Coastal Revival Fund also helps regenerate our coastal communities and support them to grow by bringing these sites back to life and making them the focal points of their communities once more.

"It's all part of our plan to invest nearly a quarter of a billion pounds in our seaside areas by 2020, providing thousands of jobs, training places and opportunities."Deborah Lamb, deputy chief executive of Historic England, said: "We welcome news of funding to help save at-risk historic buildings and places in our seaside towns and villages, so that they can be brought back into use for the benefit of local communities.

"Restoring local gems can attract investment and help to tackle the deprivation that is a problem in a number of our coastal areas. There are great examples of restoration projects in our seaside towns, often bringing together the private, public, voluntary and social enterprise sectors. This funding will inspire more."

UPDATE: Isle Access, which applied for the funding for The Dining Car, is no longer undertaking the project. The board of trustees has been in touch with the Coastal Revival Fund and will not be receiving the money. Isle Access had no further comment to make about the project.