Ripon Museum Trust has been awarded £823,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the refurbishment of a museum at the city's former workhouse, one of the few visitor attractions of its kind in Britain.

The Grade II-listed building, located within the Ripon Conservation Area, will also undergo restoration work as part of the scheme, which will see the Ripon Workhouse Museum enlarged and upgraded. Empty parts of the gatehouse will be brought back into use, while the archway between the east and west wings will be covered to create a new entrance for the museum. Two small extensions will be created at the rear of the buildings to provide more room.

A number of items currently in storage, including a tale for children of a workhouse orphan girl and a large 1868 map of the Poor Law Union, will be put on display using the extra space following the work, while the trust's collection of photographs will be included in a series of temporary exhibitions. The extra space will also house a new local studies research centre, incorporating a drop-in archive facility, toilets and room for research.

Work is expected to get underway within the next few months, and the museum is set to reopen in August. Anthony Chadwork, senior curator at Ripon Museum Trust, said: "This generous award means that we can now move ahead with our investment of over £1m to deliver so much more at the Workhouse museum.

"The Heritage Lottery Fund has once again shown faith in our ambitions and knows from our track record that we can and will succeed." Fiona Spiers, head of the HLF for Yorkshire and the Humber, added: "The history of these dreaded institutions offers us a fascinating window into the social, political and economic thinking of the time. Our grant will help ensure their story is not lost to future generations."