THE Bargate and medieval vaults in Southampton could reopen to the public following a multi-million pound investment.

Fifty-three monuments in the city – including the Bargate and Holyrood Church – are set for a £6.7m revamp.

The investment was approved by city leaders in the summer but the full list of the sites set to be repaired has just been released.

Details of the work and exact timescales are yet to be confirmed.

Cllr Spiros Vassiliou, cabinet member for culture and heritage, said the 53 sites will be restored and regenerated, with the Bargate and the vaults potentially reopened to the public.

The announcement comes as earlier this month Southampton was named as one of eight places in the running for the title of the UK City of Culture 2025.

The Bargate, Town Walls, Castle Bailey Wall North, Castle Eastgate, Weigh House and William Nichol Tower are among the monuments set for repair.

Cllr Vassiliou said the roof of the Bargate needs to be repaired and there will be a tender process once work is completed “to see what ideas are put forward” for the site.

“I would personally love to see some sort of cafe in there and open the roof up as a viewing platform,” he added.

“We have heritage assets to rival other cities, and this plays a big part of our bid to become UK City of Culture 2025. It’s incredibly important that we look after our heritage assets, repair them and regenerate them for the public to use in the future.”

He described the restoration work as “detailed and complex”.

“This means we are unable to give exact timescales and the full complexity of some of the work is not always apparent until you get started,” he added.

The medieval vaults could be leased to organisations to host events such as wine tasting and art and music events.

However, the first steps will be to make the sites safe.

Cllr Vassiliou said a review of the assets started under the previous administration with the new administration put the money in the budget to fund the scheme and “to ensure that it gets done”.

Cllr Satvir Kaur, leader of the opposition on the city council, said the investment is “very welcome”.

She added: “Irrespective of who was running the council this would have happened, as an important step towards our UK City of Culture bid, which started under Labour. We had already planned and identified key sites and monuments, so it’s encouraging the new administration are carrying on with the work we started.”