District councillors have pledged up to £30,000 for restoration works at the Tolpuddle Martyrs chapel.

The money will be offered to the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, a registered charity, if it can raise the rest of the estimated £658,600 costs by March 2019.

Council Strategy Committee members heard that the trust was an estimated £120,000 short despite winning grants from a number of other bodies.

They were told that the restoration of the building, which had been used for an agricultural store for a number of years, would fit in with the Shire Hall redevelopment in Dorchester and benefit the wider tourist economy of the area.

The 1818 building is a Grade II* Listed-building and has been on the Historic England “Buildings at Risk” register for many years. Members of the Tolpuddle Martyrs used to pray and the Methodist chapel when they worked as farm labourers in the village.

The local trust behind the project propose to restore the building to be used as a 'quiet place in the heart of this Dorset village', together with a small extension to make it more usable. It also wants to create a guided walk trail between the Old Chapel and Shire Hall.

The chapel was made redundant after a new chapel was completed in 1863 and over the last 150 years has mainly been used for agricultural storage. It was bought in February 2015 by the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, with some funding from Historic England and repairs to stabilise the cob walls and make the building wind and water tights were undertaken shortly afterwards.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has given a Development grant of £63,700 to get the project underway with round two funding set at £329,300, subject to the Trust raising sufficient match funding by July 2018.

The match funding currently stands at £209,937, made up of a £20,000 grant from Dorset Country Council; £80,000 from Historic England and £9,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund.

The trust has also applied for a £100,000 grant from the Garfield & Weston Foundation, which has yet to be determined.

Cllr Mary Penfold said: “This is an excellent project linking in with the Shire Hall. It will be important as an educational resource for schools.”