Charity workers are celebrating today after scooping a Lottery grant to turn a listed 15th-century house into a heritage centre for the community.

The Uckfield and District Preservation Society has been awarded £5,000 to renovate Bridge Cottage, built circa 1436.

Peter Ferguson, the society's spokesman, said: "We're very pleased with the grant. We have already appointed an architect and this will pay for the renovation plans."

The grant was the maximum that could be given under the Awards for All scheme which injects Lottery money into local communities with sums from £500 to £5,000.

Mr Ferguson said: "In addition to our own exhibition room and increased use by local clubs and societies, other possible uses which have been mentioned are an information centre - bookings for local concerts and information on the adjacent nature reserve - and a resource centre where local people can gain access to our local history records, some of which would be computerised."

Since the charity bought Bridge Cottage in 1984 it has maintained the exterior and opened the ground floor for exhibitions and events. It is also used by architecture students from University College, London.

Chiefs plan to carry out renovations to all three levels of the building and have support from the Uckfield Town Council Regeneration Partnership.

The Society was founded in 1968 to preserve local buildings of historical interest and also runs a local history group.

Bridge Cottage has survived the elements for 600 years and was deluged by the River Ouse floods of 2000.

When the cottage was built King Henry V1 was on the throne and it stood in fields on the outskirts of a quiet village. Now it is surrounded by modern buildings and stands in the High Street at the bustling centre of Uckfield.

It was given its name in the mid-19th Century but far from being a cottage is a large Wealden hall house. Wealden halls are distinguished by a long, single-storey corridor running the length of the building.

Records of its owners do not go back as far as 1436 but it would have been built for a family of some importance and was originally a farmhouse attached to around 98 acres of land.

The earliest accounts from 1570 show it was owned by two brothers named Langworth who had connections with the Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the brothers was the rector of Buxted.

Its next owner, a lawyer named Orwell, also had connections to the Archbishop. He worked in the Court of Arches which was at the time the Archbishop's main court of appeal.

The house then passed between merchants and businessmen until it was bought by a farming family in 1660.

Mr Ferguson said: "From about 1660 to 1800 it was occupied by a family of yeoman farmers named Colgate."

During the 19th Century it was owned by the Streatfeild family, divided into two and rented out to ordinary workers such as farm labourers.

The last occupants, two families called Morris and Johnston, only moved out in 1966 when the Town Council took it over. The UDP began running the cottage in 1984 and there is an exhibition area on the lower floors.

During its 600-year lifespan the house has seen 28 monarchs on the throne, a Civil War, two World Wars and of course, the River Ouse floods.