The Charterhouse, London Road, Coventry, West Midlands. Portrait of carpenter/contractor working on site.
Heritage at Risk 2022. The Charterhouse, London Road, Coventry, West Midlands. © Historic England Archive. DP325479.
Heritage at Risk 2022. The Charterhouse, London Road, Coventry, West Midlands. © Historic England Archive. DP325479.

Heritage at Risk

Part of the Heritage Counts series. 3 minute read.

The 'Heritage at Risk' theme brings together datasets about additions to (and removals from) Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, broken down by asset type. This includes buildings and structures, places of worship, scheduled monuments, parks and gardens, conservation areas, wreck sites and battlefields.

The Heritage at Risk (HAR) programme helps us understand the overall state of England's historic sites. The programme identifies those sites that are most at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.

The Heritage at Risk Register tells communities about the condition of their local neighbourhood. It encourages people to become actively involved in looking after what is precious to them. It also reassures them that any public funding goes to the most needy and urgent cases.

Map view of the Heritage at Risk Register

The South West region has the highest number of entries, whilst the North East has the lowest

Figure HAR 5.1 – Map view of entries on the Heritage at Risk Register, 2022. Click on the drop down menu to view different categories. Additionally, you can click the legend to filter by range. Data source: Historic England.

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Buildings and structures

  • In 2022, 756 Grade I and II* listed structures were recorded on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register, representing 3.4% of the overall number of these assets
  • 43 assets were added to the register in 2022
  • Regionally, the rate of addition was mixed: the Midlands, East of England and the South West each recorded 10 additions, while the North West recorded the fewest with 3
  • Removals from the Register: The year 2022 saw the highest number of removals from the register since 2017, with 60 Grade I and II* structures removed from the register. In 2020 and 2021, 31 and 32 structures were removed from the register respectively
  • Grant Funding for Buildings and Structures: In the 2021/22 financial year, a total of £6.7 million in grant funding was allocated to Grade I and II* buildings and structures listed on the Heritage at Risk register. This amount represents a decrease from the £9.4 million funding provided in 2020/21

Scheduled monuments

  • As of 2022, 2,274 scheduled monuments are recorded on the Heritage at Risk register (11.4% of scheduled monuments in England)
  • Although 36% of England’s scheduled monuments are found in the South West (the most of any region), the region contributes 46% of the scheduled monuments recorded on the Register
  • In terms of grants made to support scheduled monuments on the register, a total of £744,000 was granted in 2021/22

Listed places of worship

  • In 2022, there were 919 listed places of worship on the Heritage at Risk register
  • This equates to approximately 6% of all listed places of worship

Parks and gardens

  • In 2022, there were 104 registered parks and gardens on the Heritage at Risk register
  • This equates to approximately 6% of all registered parks and gardens

Conservation areas

  • In 2022, there were 490 conservation areas on the Heritage at Risk register
  • This equates to approximately 5% of all conservation areas