Morden Hall Park in south London, home to a rare surviving example of a 19th century agricultural estate, has been awarded a £900,000 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant.

The park, formerly owned by the Hatfield family and now run by the National Trust (NT), forms part of the Wandle Valley Conservation Area. The HLF grant will go towards the £2.5m Heart of the Park project, which will see important buildings such as the 19th century stable yard and the remaining waterwheel renovated and conserved.

The two-year project, to begin during the summer, will allow visitor access to the 19th-century stable yard for the first time in 130 years, as well as creating a centre for sustainable renovation. The conservation of the waterwheel will help explain the river Wandle's industrial heritage. A further element of the project is the work to install a hydroelectric turbine in the river Wandle which flows through the park. The turbine, an Archimedes screw, could be the first hydroelectric turbine of its type in London.

Sue Bowers, head of the HLF for London, said: "This innovative and exemplary approach to restoration, conservation and interpretation will make this a genuinely sustainable 'deep green' heritage project that will simultaneously bring alive the industry of the past whilst embracing that of the future." New facilities in the renovated stable yard building will include the Livinggreen exhibition centre, workshop space for craft artists, a small café and family picnic area.

Morden Hall Park was bequeathed to the NT in 1941 by Gilliat Edward Hatfield who stated that it should be used "as an open space and public park to benefit primarily those living in its neighbourhood". Today it attracts more than 750,000 visitors a year.