WORK to refurbish one of the city’s most historic landmarks will begin next month.

South coast contractors Mountjoy have been appointed to work on the 700-year-old ancient monument God’s House Tower following an uplift in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Work will begin on site on July 18 and will include conservation work to the building, removing modern internal walls, installing a lift to make to the building accessible, restoring the original doorway on Town Quay Road, and building a new extension to house facilities.

Once complete the building will include new exhibition spaces, a permanent exhibition of the building’s history located in the tower itself, a new ground floor café-bar and access to the rooftop views of Southampton Water. There will also be a collections gallery that display works from the city’s nationally designated collection, that depict God’s House Tower.

It is a key element of Southampton’s medieval Town Walls, in previous years being a gatehouse, a fortification – one of the earliest in the country specifically designed for canons, and during the 1700s being used as the Town Gaol.

Dan Crow, director of a space arts – who were recently awarded National Portfolio Status by Arts Council England and guaranteed funding for the next four years – said: “We are delighted finally be starting refurbishment works and look forward to welcoming the public back into the building.”

Programme and exhibitions manager Tony Spencer added: "It’s an exciting time to be part of Southampton’s cultural scene and a privilege to present a vibrant exhibitions programme which retells the forgotten history of Gods House Tower."

An anticipated opening in summer 2019 will see the grade II listed monument come back into public use after lying empty since the Archaeology Museum moved out in 2011.