The Heritage at Risk programme provides a dynamic picture of the health of England's built heritage. It also provides advice on how best to save those sites most at risk of being lost forever. English Heritage is committed to reducing the overall number of sites at risk of loss as a result of neglect, decay and inappropriate development. How this will be achieved is set out in the Heritage at Risk Strategy.
Every year English Heritage publishes a list of those sites most at risk of being lost. To find out which of England's historic sites are currently at risk search the Heritage at Risk Register.
In 2012 we have found that despite the challenges of the recession, the number of sites on the Heritage at Risk Register continues to fall, with 55% of buildings on the 1999 Register having been rescued and removed. However, the sites that remain on the Register can be complex cases to resolve and solutions are often taking a long time to implement.
The new Register reveals that:
- There are now 5,831 Grade I and II* buildings nationally and Grade II listed buildings in London, monuments, archaeological sites, landscapes, battlefields, protected wrecks, places of worship and conservation areas at risk on the Register
- Only 13% of the Grade I and II* buildings on the Register are thought to be economic to repair, indicating the vast scale of public subsidy required if these national treasures are not to vanish forever
- Although 318 entries have been saved and removed from the Register since 2011, 360 have been added
- 1 in 6 of England's 19,759 scheduled monuments is at risk; the largest risks remain arable cultivation (44%) and scrub and tree growth (26%).
- 99 of England's 1,617 registered parks and gardens are at risk
- English Heritage offered £8.2 million in grants to 191 sites at risk last year and has given £75.3 million to grade I and II* listed buildings at risk and structural scheduled monuments since the Register began in 1998.
Ambitious New Programme
For the first time we're embarking on an ambitious programme to find out how one major element of our heritage not already covered by the Register - grade II listed buildings outside of London - can be assessed.
Pilot projects will survey buildings in sample areas, publish data on those that are known to be at risk, and identify possible solutions and strategies for bringing them back into good condition. At the end of the pilots in 2013 we will review whether or not national coverage of grade II buildings can be achieved.
Facts and figures on Heritage at Risk can be found in the national summary leaflet.
