Register of England's historic buildings at risk

Citation

(1998), "Register of England's historic buildings at risk", Property Management, Vol. 16 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1998.11316cab.010

Register of England's historic buildings at risk

Register of England's historic buildings at risk

How safe is our built heritage? How much does it matter? On 19 May 1998, Chris Smith, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, announced the publication of The English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk, the first ever national audit of England's outstanding historic buildings at risk through neglect and decay.

The register is a working document which will contain the name and a photograph of every Grade I and Grade II* building in England that is at risk and the priority attached to the work to be done if the building is to be saved.

The register will be continuously updated on a computer database and will be published annually. As buildings are repaired and cease to be at risk they will be removed from the register. Any buildings found to be at risk, but not on the register, will be added.

Sir Jocelyn Stevens, Chairman of English Heritage, said: "For 18 months English Heritage experts have scoured the country, region by region, in order to inspect the 28,000 Grade I and II* buildings in England. The English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk reveals that they have identified around 1,500 that are crumbling into ruin. The register will help us and others to set our priorities when taking action to save as many of these buildings as possible:

Immediately following the publication of The English Heritage Register, we will launch a campaign to save these buildings at risk and we will be holding a series of meetings all over England to discuss with those who are involved how we can help them rescue the buildings at risk in their areas. Where there are buildings which are extremely problematic our skills and resources will be available to help to secure their future. As a start we have set aside £5 million towards the costs.

The English Heritage Buildings at Risk Campaign will provide practical guidance, advice and grants to local authorities, building preservation trusts, owners and members of the public who are in a position to save a building at risk. The campaign will demonstrate how to tackle the problems of finance, ownership and structural repair, how to identify priorities for urgent action and how to develop the opportunities offered by some redundant buildings for regeneration projects.