Historic England (HE) has today announced its Heritage at Risk Register, an annual snapshot of the health of England's historic environment.

A Napoleonic watch tower in Essex; a lighthouse in Sunderland; a 20th century concrete church in Birmingham; and the remains of a First World War munitions factory in Northamptonshire are sadly now among England's heritage most at risk.

However there is plenty of good news. A third of all sites on the 2010 register have now been rescued, beating Historic England's national target. And money raised through the National Lottery has played a vital role in securing many of them including: 

• The Scenic Railway, at Dreamland, Margate, grade II* - Britain's oldest surviving roller coaster, badly damaged by fire in 2008, it's now one of the star attractions at the newly-opened amusement park; and
• Brown Bear Pit and kiosk, Dudley Zoo, grade II* - built 1935-7 by architects Lubetkin and Tecton, the Bear Pit is one of 27 innovative and daring structures in the zoo using reinforced concrete

At HLF, we understand the challenges facing historic buildings in need of urgent repair. We’ve invested more than £650million into projects that have helped to repair and re-use buildings at risk across the UK and more than 250 buildings have been removed from national Heritage At Risk registers as a direct result of our funding.

Historic industrial potential

However, there is still much to do.  A 2011 survey found that the percentage of listed industrial buildings at risk was three times greater than the national average for all listed buildings at risk. But at HLF, we know that the re-use of these types of buildings - which include former factories and warehouses - has the potential to act as a major catalyst for local economic regeneration, particularly in post-industrial cities and regions blighted by deprivation.

2015 is the European Industrial and Technical Heritage (EITH) Year and this December HLF will host in partnership with Historic England (HE) and The Prince’s Regeneration Trust (PRT), the Industrial Heritage Conference 2015 at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI).

The conference will explore new uses for vacant, at-risk industrial buildings by connecting them to creative industries businesses, developers, investors, other commercial opportunities and community-led/not-for-profit organisations. To find out more visit the conference website.

Find out more

See the latest findings on the Heritage at Risk website.