English heritage highlights heritage at risk in the North West

Date published: 08 July 2010

English Heritage’s annual Heritage at Risk register, published today, Wednesday 7 July, shows that 5.1% of Grade I and II* listed buildings in the North West are at risk of decay and neglect. This figure represents some 103 sites.

The Heritage at Risk Register, which is available to view at: www.english-heritage.org.uk/risk, shows that in 2009/10 six historic structures were removed from the regional register, for example, two Grade II* buildings where repair work has been undertaken and are no longer at risk. They are the mid 19th century chapel in Stonehouse Lane in Peckforton, Cheshire and the early to mid 18th century Bath Lodge in Ormskirk, Lancashire.

There have been five additions to the regional register in Cumbria, Merseyside, and Greater Manchester. They comprise:

• Old College Hall, St Bees, Cumbria – Grade I listed
• Castle Dairy in Wildman Street, Kendal, Cumbria – Grade I listed
• Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria – Grade I listed
• Greenbank Drive Synagogue, Sefton Park, Liverpool – Grade II* listed
• Headgear at Astley Green Colliery, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester – scheduled monument

Henry Owen-John, Regional Director for English Heritage in the North West, said: “Although we’ve seen a steady reduction in the number of sites on our regional At Risk Register, a relatively high percentage of historic assets remain vulnerable – particularly listed buildings.

“The combination of the economic downturn and an unfavourable exchange rate that reduces the value of European funding are factors in building projects either not being started or completed.”

Of the 40 local authorities in the North West, 29 responded to the English Heritage survey of conservation areas at risk. This showed that of the 680 conservation areas for which English Heritage now has details, 64 (9.4%) are at risk.

Burnley’s Weavers’ Triangle conservation area in Lancashire – once the cotton-weaving capital of the world – has been affected by the economic situation which has left many important buildings within the conservation area at risk. However, The North West Development Agency provided funding to help Burnley Council acquire historic land and property, from a recession hit owner. English Heritage is one of several partners which support the Council with expert advice and funding – enabling urgent repairs to get underway.

In response to these difficulties, Henry Owen-John said that the organisation would increasingly focus its resources on “stopping the rot” by ensuring the decay of significant historic places can be arrested in the medium term allowing them to take advantage of any future economic growth. During 2009/10 alone English Heritage awarded grants to 12 sites in the North West, totalling £1.1m.

Other key findings for the North West from this year’s Heritage at Risk register include:

• 194 scheduled monuments are at risk, of which 81% are in private ownership
• Of the £450,000 funding offered by English Heritage to owners of scheduled monuments at risk in 2009/10, just over 10% of it was given to the North West