Historic England Reveals its Heritage at Risk Register 2025
Historic England has today revealed its Heritage at Risk Register 2025. The Register gives an annual snapshot of the health of England’s valued historic buildings and places. It helps to ensure they can be protected and continue to be enjoyed in the future.
Heritage plays a vital role in the pride people feel about their local place. It gives meaning to the places where people live, work and spend time, connects us, inspires creativity, and boosts economic growth. When it’s not looked after and used, communities feel a sense of decline.
The heritage we see all around us impacts how we feel about our local places. The annual Heritage at Risk Register gives us the opportunity to celebrate the many benefits of bringing our historic buildings back into use.
The best way to protect our buildings is to reuse them, turning them into places of local connection and joy. The sites that have been saved and have come off the Register this year really highlight the benefits of working together in partnership, and with communities, to create positive, sustainable change. Together we can safeguard our heritage for future generations.
Restored, rescued, and brought back to life
This year alone, 129 sites have been rescued and their futures secured. Many buildings and sites have been rescued with the help and commitment of local people, communities, charities, owners and funders including The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Sites that have now been brought back into use and saved include the reconfigured Bruce Grove Public Toilets in Tottenham, now serving the local community as a café, community space and new public toilets and let on a ‘social value’ lease to ensure the site benefits the community. Augill Smelting Mill, a highlight of Northern England's industrial heritage in the North Pennines National Landscape, has also been saved through recent conservation works, allowing for volunteer training, community engagement, and more local understanding of the mining landscape.
Historic England works together with partners and communities in inventive ways to breathe new life and hope into places that need it most. We want to see ‘at risk’ historic buildings brought back into productive use so they can be enjoyed by local communities and contribute to the local economy.
In London’s Tower Hamlets, the Former Weavers’ Cottage on Redchurch Street, built around 1735, has been saved from dereliction and transformed into a modern retail outlet that celebrates its past. And 26 Westgate (Old Judges House) in Gloucester, the largest timber-framed townhouse in England dating back to the 16th century, has been repaired thanks to a grant from Historic England. It is now home to the Gloucester Antiques Centre and helping to revitalise the historic high street.
Given the environmental impact of demolishing buildings and replacing them, the greenest building is the one that already exists. The 17th century Old School Coffee House, in Barnstaple, Devon is a great example of reuse. It was founded as a school for ‘20 poor maids’ in 1659. Previously vacant, the former school has been transformed into affordable and sustainable housing.
Historic England is harnessing the power of heritage for the planet, contributing to achieving net zero carbon emissions by facilitating the adaption and reuse of historic buildings.
At risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate change
There are also more buildings and places which need help. These include the cherished Hill Garden Pergola on Hampstead Heath in London, the birthplace of vaccination known as Dr Jenner’s Hut in the Garden of the Chantry in Gloucestershire, the Church of St Wendreda, a medieval church in Cambridgeshire, and Cromford Mills in Derbyshire, known as the home of the modern factory system.
Over the past year, 138 historic buildings and sites have been added to the Register because they are at risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.
We are determined to protect the heritage at the heart of our communities.
It is fantastic to see so many historical sites saved for communities up and down the country. These are much loved places and it is great to see them being brought back in to use. This year alone our £15 million Heritage at Risk Capital Fund has been key to saving buildings like these.
What's new in 2025?
Heritage at Risk in 2025
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