HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER 2009 / SOUTH EAST ContentsContents HERITAGEHERITAGE AT RISK AT RISK 2 2 Buildings atBuildings Risk at Risk 6 6 MonumentsMonuments at Risk at Risk 8 8 Parks and GardensParks and at GardensRisk at Risk 10 11 Battlefields Battlefieldsat Risk and Shipwrecks at Risk12 12 ShipwrecksConservation at Risk Areas at Risk 13 14 ConservationThe Areas 2009 at CAARs Risk Survey 14 16 The 2009 ConservationPublications and Areas guidance Survey 16 20 PublicationsTHE and REGISTERguidance 2008 20 21 The register – content and 22 THE REGISTERassessment 2009 criteria 21 Contents Key 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 / SOUTH EAST HERITAGE AT RISK IN THE SOUTH EAST 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 / SOUTH EAST 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 South East region is a rich and varied landscape of projects. We will continue to use the register as the historic towns and cities, rural villages, coastal resorts principal guide for our investment strategy in the and outstanding countryside.This quality of the historic future, focusing our funds and expertise towards those environment is fundamental to its appeal as a place assets and owners with the greatest need for our help. to live and work. Understanding the condition of this But this will be ever-more challenging in the future remarkable heritage resource is therefore vital if we with the additional number of assets now on the are to sustain it in the long-term for future generations. register, the varying nature and scale of risk to each asset type, and the current economic climate – for ESTIMATED OUTSTANDING entries on the Buildings at Risk register alone, there is CONSERVATION DEFICIT FOR an estimated conservation deficit of £72.3m. Each asset £72.3m type will require a different approach. Many parks and BUILDINGS AT RISK ALONE gardens, for example, are in multiple ownership and unlike buildings they often lack an obvious commercial In total, the expanded South East register of Heritage benefit to warrant investment. Similarly, the local at Risk in 2009 contains some 582 heritage assets, authorities that designate conservation areas and featuring not only Grade I and II* listed buildings, have responsibility for their management are protected historic wreck sites and registered under increasing budgetary pressures; in particular, battlefields, but for the first time detail on registered conservation staff are being reduced in many councils. parks and gardens, scheduled monuments and This will inevitably have an impact on the quality and conservation areas. Identifying those assets that are character of conservation areas in the future. at risk and monitoring their condition will help us Resolving these cases will not be easy but we are to plan and prioritise our expertise, resources and committed to working with partners to deliver lasting grant investment effectively in order to secure solutions that will contribute to making quality places sustainable solutions for their futures. for the benefit of the entire region. In its first ten years, the Buildings at Risk register proved a useful focus for this and helped direct our investment priorities.The register was effective in highlighting need. Working with owners and partners and providing substantial grant-aid, we have now secured the future of a total of 109 buildings from the original register of 1999. In 2008/9 alone, we succeeded in removing 10 entries and offered grants Andrew Brown, Planning and Development totalling £417k towards ten different Heritage at Risk Regional Director, South East Contact: Simon Goodhugh, Business Manager, English Heritage South East Region, Eastgate Court, 195-205 High Street, Guildford, GU1 3EH Telephone: 01483 252037 Fax: 01483 252021 Email: [email protected] 3 HERITAGE AT RISK 2009 / SOUTH EAST 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. This year more than 400 heritage assets have been The registers have enabled English Heritage and its added to the South East Heritage at Risk register. partners in local authorities, building preservation trusts These include one additional protected wreck site, and funding bodies, as well as owners, to understand 140 conservation areas, 270 scheduled monuments, the extent of the problem and to prioritise action and and 24 registered parks and gardens. Alongside this resources. As a result, the proportion of England’s the region still has 1 registered battlefield at risk, highest-graded (I and II*) listed buildings at risk has 6 other protected wreck sites at risk and some 167 fallen steadily from 3.8% in the baseline year of 1999 to entries on the Buildings at Risk register. With nearly 3.1% this year. Of the Grade I and II* listed building and 600 individual elements of the historic environment structural scheduled monument entries on the baseline of the South East now officially ‘at risk’ the statistics register, 48% have now been removed. paint a disturbing picture. 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 percentage,17.9%, is at risk. The main threats to historic to 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.We welcome further information 6% of parks and gardens and 16.3% of battlefields are and corrections. currently at risk.The main threats facing wreck sites Further information on heritage at risk is given are from the forces of the sea and natural decay, and on page 20, and on our website: www.english­ wreck sites have the highest proportion at risk (19.6%) heritage.org.uk/risk. An interactive database providing of all asset types.The relatively low proportion of listed detailed information on all heritage sites at risk buildings at risk is also the result of work that has been nationally can also be found on our website. put in by individuals and agencies over many years to identify them and then secure their future. English Heritage began assessing the condition of listed buildings in the 1980s, publishing the first annual register of Buildings at Risk in London in 1991, and the first national register of Grade I