HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER 2009 / YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER Contents HERITAGEContents AT RISK 2 Buildings atHERITAGE Risk AT RISK6 2 MonumentsBuildings at Risk at Risk 8 6 Parks and GardensMonuments at Risk at Risk 10 8 Battlefields Parksat Risk and Gardens at Risk 12 11 ShipwrecksBattlefields at Risk and Shipwrecks at Risk13 12 ConservationConservation Areas at Risk Areas at Risk 14 14 The 2009 ConservationThe 2009 CAARs Areas Survey Survey 16 16 Reducing thePublications risks and guidance 18 20 PublicationsTHE and REGISTERguidance 200820 21 The register – content and 22 THE REGISTERassessment 2009 criteria 21 ContentsKey to the entries 21 25 The registerHeritage – content at Riskand listings 22 26 assessment criteria Key to the entries 24 Heritage at Risk entries 26 HERITAGE AT RISK 2009 / YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER HERITAGE AT RISK IN YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER Registered Battlefields at Risk Listed Buildings at Risk Scheduled Monuments at Risk Registered Parks and Gardens at Risk Protected Wrecks at Risk Local Planning Authority 2 HERITAGE AT RISK 2009 / YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER We are all justly proud of England’s historic buildings, monuments, parks, gardens and designed landscapes, battlefields and shipwrecks. But too many of them are suffering from neglect, decay and pressure from development. Heritage at Risk is a national project to identify these endangered places and then help secure their future. In 2008 English Heritage published its first register of Heritage at Risk – a region-by-region list of all the Grade I and II* listed buildings (and Grade II listed buildings in London), structural scheduled monuments, registered battlefields and protected wreck sites in England known to be ‘at risk’. A year later, this second updated regional edition of the register has been enlarged to include details of all scheduled monuments (archaeological sites) and registered parks and gardens, as well as conservation areas designated by local authorities that are also reported to be at certain or potential risk. The Heritage at Risk register is an important tool for Since the first Yorkshire register of Grade I and II* the Yorkshire and Humber Region, helping everyone Buildings at Risk was published in 1999 we have been to make more informed decisions about the historic able to remove 93 (53%) of the 176 original entries on environment. For this latest edition of the register we the grounds of their improved condition. In the last have worked hard to make sure the information is as financial year alone English Heritage grants totalling accurate and up-to-date as possible. For example, since nearly £600,000 have been offered to assist in the the launch of Parks and Gardens at Risk in 2008 we repair and reuse of 10 further buildings. have refined the risk-assessment methodology and This year we have been working with our local undertaken further survey work.This has allowed authority partners to extend the Heritage at Risk us to identify the need for the repair of landscape survey to include an assessment of the condition of infrastructure such as parkland trees, avenues and the region’s 779 conservation areas. As a result we waterbodies, as well as impacts arising from have identified 43 that are at risk of losing some or incremental development. all of their special interest. These include a redundant chocolate factory and a cemetery, but more typically OF BUILDINGS ON THE are our historic town centres and villages, where a 1999 AT RISK REGISTER combination of disuse and decay, new development 53% and the erosion of the public realm is threatening HAVE BEEN SAVED their valued qualities of place. Last year’s national Scheduled Monuments at Risk survey provided a picture of the condition of the region’s 2621 scheduled monuments. Many are at risk of loss and damage from factors such as ploughing, scrub growth and erosion. Since then, we have begun Trevor Mitchell Interim Planning and Development working in a targeted way with site owners and Regional Director, Yorkshire and the Humber partners like Natural England and the National Park Authorities to tackle the problems facing these important heritage assets.This year we are including 744 scheduled sites on the Register, drawing attention to the need for concerted action to save these signposts to our more distant past. Contact: Susan Daniels, Business Manager, English Heritage, Yorkshire and the Humber Region, Tanner Row, York Y01 6WP Telephone: 01904 601979 Fax: 01904 601999 Email: [email protected] 3 HERITAGE AT RISK 2009 / YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER Heritage at Risk 2009 The 2009 register for England includes 5,094 nationally designated sites that are at risk, along with 727 locally designated conservation areas at risk.These sites are important and irreplaceable elements of our historic environment and help contribute to local and national character. By assessing their condition and identifying which are most at risk, we can define the scale of the problem and plan and prioritise the resources needed to bring them back into good repair – and, where appropriate, into practical use – for the benefit of present and future generations. The Register’s main purpose is to identify historic buildings at risk is also the result of work that has been places that are in danger of losing their significance put in by individuals and agencies over many years to whether it be through decay or damage. As we add identify them and then secure their future. English new asset types we are building a comprehensive Heritage began assessing the condition of listed picture of the state of the historic environment in the buildings in the 1980s, publishing the first annual register Yorkshire and Humber Region.The latest addition of of Buildings at Risk in London in 1991, and the first conservation areas brings the issue closer to home national register of Grade I and II* listed buildings and for the many people living or working in the historic structural scheduled monuments at risk in 1998. high streets, villages and other special places which The registers have enabled English Heritage and its provide our daily experience of our region’s heritage. partners in local authorities, building preservation trusts Over the past ten years we have been focusing and funding bodies, as well as owners, to understand primarily on high-grade listed buildings. We now have the extent of the problem and to prioritise action and the opportunity to expand and adapt the various resources. As a result, the proportion of England’s solutions we have developed for these and apply highest-graded (I and II*) listed buildings at risk has them to monuments, landscapes and townscapes. fallen steadily from 3.8% in the baseline year of 1999 to Given the current economic climate, this will be 3.1% this year. Of the Grade I and II* listed building and a challenge. But we will work with the sector and structural scheduled monument entries on the baseline other partners to find sustainable solutions for our register, 48% have now been removed. unique regional heritage. While the condition of the nation’s Grade I and II* listed buildings has improved, this year’s Heritage at THE NATIONAL PICTURE Risk registers show that England’s other nationally The table on the opposite page sets out the number designated heritage assets face much greater levels of and percentage of nationally designated assets that risk, and highlight the scale of the challenge and the have been identified as ‘at risk’.The significant variations resources needed, both at a national and local level. in the proportions at risk reflect important differences Working with property owners and our partners, not only in the physical character of the historic assets, we aim to achieve similar progress in reducing risk to but also differences in the way in which they are used. other heritage assets.This will be challenging in the Buildings generally have an economic value to their current economic climate, given the high proportion owners, particularly when capable of adaptive use. of heritage sites that do not, even in more prosperous The percentage of Grade I and II* listed buildings at times, generate an income.Their importance as part risk (3.1%) is thus lower than for the other asset types. of our heritage is nevertheless immeasurable, and their By contrast, assets that have far less economic urgent needs must not be ignored. benefit have higher percentages at risk. Archaeological Inclusion of sites on this register does not imply monuments have little direct economic benefit and, criticism of their owners, many of whom are actively as a result, often suffer from neglect, and a far higher trying to secure their future. While we have tried to percentage,17.9%, is at risk. The main threats to historic ensure that the information included is accurate, landscapes, parks, gardens and battlefields come from we will correct any errors or omissions brought either neglect or from unsympathetic development – to our attention. 6% of parks and gardens and 16.3% of battlefields are Further information on heritage at risk is given currently at risk. The main threats facing wreck sites on page 20, and on our website: www.english- are from the forces of the sea and natural decay, and heritage.org.uk/risk. An interactive database providing wreck sites have the highest proportion at risk (19.6%) detailed information on all heritage sites at risk of all asset types.The relatively low proportion of listed nationally can also be found on our website. 4 HERITAGE AT RISK 2009