Historic England has today revealed its annual Heritage at Risk Register, which has seen 159 historic buildings and sites added, and 203 sites removed after being rescued in the past year.
This year’s list marks its 25th publication, having begun in 1998 as the Buildings at Risk Register.
Historic England said since the inception of the list, 6,800 entries have been removed, which equates to around three-quarters of the entries that were on the original Register.
In total, there are 4,871 entries on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2023 – 48 fewer than in 2022.
Of the total additions and removals, more buildings and structures, archaeological sites and conservation areas were removed for positive reasons than were added. But in 2023 more places of worship were added to the list than removed. A total of 53 Places of worship were added to the list while 29 were removed.
Historic England awarded £7.63 million in grants for repairs to 155 sites on the Heritage at Risk Register during the 2022/2023 period.
Sites added in this year’s include Holbeche House in the West Midlands, once owned by one of the plotters associated with the Gunpowder Plot; The Great White Horse Hotel in Suffolk, where throughout history, King George II, Admiral Lord Nelson and The Beatles have stayed. It was also the inspiration for regular guest Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers.
Sites saved and removed this year include the Holmfirth Conservation Area in West Yorkshire which featured in the TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine; Bourn Mill in Cambridgeshire, one of the oldest windmills in England, and The Royal Military Depot at Weedon in Northamptonshire which supplied weapons and ammunition to the British Army from Napoleonic times through to the First and Second World Wars.
Sites added to the register in 2023 and at risk include:
West Midlands
At Risk: Holbeche House Dudley (Grade II* listed)
Saved: Abbot Reginald’s Wall, Evesham Worcestershire, Scheduled, Grade I, II* And II listed (Different Parts Of Site), In A Conservation Area
East Of England
At Risk: Great White Horse Hotel Ipswich, Suffolk (Grade II* listed)
At Risk: Church Of St Mary Stoke-By-Nayland, Suffolk (Grade I listed)
Saved: Bourn Mill Cambridgeshire (Grade I listed)
London
At Risk: Upminster Tithe Barn Havering (Scheduled Monument)
Saved: Electricity Substation, Sunnyside Passage, Merton (Grade II listed)
South East
At Risk: Polegate Windmill East Sussex (Grade II* listed)
At Risk: Dane John Mound Canterbury, Kent (Scheduled Monument)
Saved: Sheerness Dockyard Church (Grade II* listed) Isle Of Sheppey, Kent
South West
At Risk: Oldway Mansion Paignton, Devon (Grade II* listed)
Saved: Tolpuddle Old Chapel (Former Methodist Chapel To The East Of Martyr’s Cottages), Tolpuddle, Dorset (Grade II* listed)
West Yorkshire
Saved: Holmfirth Conservation Area, Holmfirth
North West
Saved: Church Of The Ascension, Clarence Street, Salford, Greater Manchester (Grade II listed)
Saved: Capernwray Hall Park And Garden, Carnforth, Lancaster, Lancashire (Grade II registered)
East Midlands
Saved: Weedon Depot Ne Bastion Ne Bastion, Northamptonshire (Grade II* listed)
Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “It is heartening to see that so many sites have had their futures secured and have been taken off the Register over the past year thanks to the hard work of Historic England and local people. I look forward to the new additions to the Register receiving similar care and attention so that future generations can continue to enjoy and learn from our rich heritage for years to come.”
