ONE of the Ribble Valley's most important historic sites and tourist attractions could be given a massive refurbishment boost, if a bid for lottery loot is successful.

Dramatic and exciting plans for Whalley Abbey are being drawn up at the moment between both the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church.

The project involves a business plan and a study of the work needed to re-vamp the site. Once details have been finalised, a bid of about £60,000 will be put to the lottery board in the New Year, for a feasibility study.

If that bid is successful and the work is economically viable, a full lottery bid will be put in to complete the plans.

A major part of the programme involves the building known as the lay brothers' dormitory. The building belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and the scheme for the Abbey could mean restoring the dormitory and creating a new church building to replace the English Martyrs Church in the village.

There could also be scope for an exhibition centre and gift shop on that part of the site.

Whalley Abbey Chaplain Rev Chris Sterry, said: "The main thrust of the plan is to get the whole of the Whalley Abbey site under one umbrella of management.

"At the moment, one church owns one part and another church owns a different part, but we are working together on this project.

"The Abbey and surrounding buildings are very important historically and whatever we do with them in the future will be done with their past and tradition in mind."

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