ABINGDON'S County Hall Museum has been given £1.7m to launch its restoration.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant, announced yesterday, means the 17th-century market hall will get a new lift and the museum’s display areas will be modernised.

The cellar will be extended to house a new community space, coffee bar, toilets and shop, and the first floor Sessions Hall — where magistrates held assizes for hundreds of years — will be fitted with new lighting, heating, air conditioning and soundproofing.

The building's second floor will be opened to the public to house craft displays and memorabilia from the town’s former MG car factory.

Abingdon Town Council clerk Nigel Warner said work should start by late autumn.

The museum will then be closed for 12 months, opening again in 2012.

Mr Warner said: “It is a very important building in the town. It was described by Nikolaus Pevnser as one of the finest town halls in England.

“It is over 50 years since there has been a major refurbishment, so a lot of work needs to be done. The town council wants to make the building fit for purpose for the 21st century.”

He said it was essential to improve access to the museum —both by installing facilities for disabled visitors and revamping displays to appeal to more people.

The Lottery grant, will meet 56 per cent of the cost. Other grants have been made by the county and district councils, and local charitable trusts.

Abingdon Town Council has put aside £500,000 for the project.

Mr Warner said fundraising would continue to make up an estimated £200,000 shortfall.

The County Hall was built between 1678 and 1684 by Christopher Kempster, who worked with Sir Christopher Wren on St Paul’s Cathedral.

For 200 years, it housed some of Berkshire’s biggest trials as the home of the Assize Courts.

In 1919, 44 cases of geological specimens, shells and corals and zoological exhibits were loaned to the then Abingdon Borough Council to enable it to found a museum. Also on display were five human skeletons which were found when excavating the basement of a local inn.

The museum now also houses a selection of craftwork donated to the museum in 1998.

The town council hopes the refit will help boost visitor numbers from 20,000 to 30,000 each year.

* Abingdon Town Council will hold its annual parish meeting tonight at the Guildhall, in Abbey Close, at 7.30pm.