PLANS to convert the former police station in Petersfield into a Victorian Justice Heritage Centre have been given a £182,000 boost.

The Heritage Lottery grant will pay for detailed plans, surveys and costings to be drawn up in readiness for a second lottery bid of £1.5m.

This will help pay for the massive conversion project, which isn’t likely to start for two to three years.

But the lottery money has to be matched; museum trustees have to raise £900,000 toward the work, which could take up to two years to finish.

The trustees took ownership of the building last Friday; on Tuesday the lottery success was announced.

The police station in St Peters Road opened in 1858, and it’s thought if everything goes according to plan, the ambitious conversion, including re-wiring, re-plumbing, re-roofing, could be finished by 2021.

When it’s completed, the station, it’s stables and the nearby court house, will re-open as a Victorian Justice Heritage Centre.

It will also house the towns’ museum, it’s archive, work by Petersfield artist Flora Twort, Bedales historic costume collection, and education facilities.

Space will also be made for probably the most important collection of books by and about Edward Thomas, the Steep poet killed during the First World War.

Room will also be created for the first Edward Thomas study centre in the UK.

Finally, a covered walkway will connect the police station and court house, now used as Petersfield Museum.

Level access will be built in, providing viewing for everyone for the first time in the museum’s history.

There will also be opportunities for volunteers to get involved and receive training in skills such as helping to care for the collections, assisting with the education programme and research.

Petersfield Museum fundraising trustee Jeremy Mitchell said: “Since 1997 we have been working with the community, and we are delighted with the Heritage Lottery Fund support.

“By displaying exhibits connected to the landscape, our rich cultural traditions, and history as a market town, the new museum will be a hub for those who want to learn more or explore the landscape that has inspired so many before them.”