Five historic parks in England will undergo restoration thanks to a £14m grant from the lottery funded Parks for People programme.

The funding has been distributed between Newcastle (£4.5m), West Bromwich (£4.4m), Plymouth (£3.3m), Worcester (£803,000) and Newark (£1.13m).

Sir Clive Booth, chair of the BIG Lottery Fund, said: "This investment will help to ensure that communities get the most of what their parks have to offer. Parks require a lot of maintenance and care and this funding will help to preserve these green spaces and the environment for the future."

The funding for Newcastle will go towards preserving Ouseburn Parks, a green corridor through the city, originally part of Lord Armstrong's private estate - founder of the University of Newcastle. The 68-hectare park's landscape will be restored, as will historical monuments such as St Mary's Chapel.

The plans also include a new education space and visitor centre, a children's play area and a picnic site.

West Bromwich's Victorian Dartmouth Park will also be revamped with new public facilities and will have its historic features such as its lake and war memorials restored. Devonport Park in Plymouth, which hosts three listed buildings and war memorials, will also undergo preservation. The site will also gain a new events space and a refurbished play area and football pitches.

Sconce and Devon Park in Newark, Nottinghamshire, will be revitalised and acquire a family trail with podcasts and a visitors' display area to explain the significance of the site's various heritage features such as the Civil War's Queen's Sconce. The park also hosts a a local nature reserves, sports pitches and children's play facilities.

Finally, Gheluvely Park in Worcester, which opened in 1922, will be restored back to it original design.

Communities secretary Hazel Blears said: "Good quality parks are essential to our communities. They can make a real difference to our health and social well-being.

"We've seen a renaissance of our parks in recent years and this new funding will mean that even more people will be able to enjoy high quality green spaces."

Led by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the BIG the two-stage Parks for People programme also delivers stage one grants to develop proposals for stage two funding. Nine parks have been awarded a total of £913,700.

The HLF and BIG partnership will be investing up to £160m over three years, delivering grants from £250,000 to £5m with two rounds of funding each year.