The Red List - English Industrial Heritage at Risk

English Heritage published its Heritage at Risk Register in July 2008, extending the previous Buildings at Risk surveys to include Scheduled Monuments, Registered Parks and Gardens, Registered Battlefields and Protected Wreck Sites. Clearly there are significant advantages in bringing together all the sites of historic or other significance into one volume. The Register has 1,680 entries, varying from buildings in a state of collapse with no moves toward a restoration scheme, to others where restoration is already well under way and the future seems assured. While in most cases the problems are caused by neglect and decay, in some cases the threat may be land or coast erosion. For most of England only Scheduled Monuments and buildings listed Grade 1 or 2* are included, but in London coverage extends to all Grade 2 buildings.

It should be of interest to AIA members that the following list has been complied from those sites found on the register deemed to be of industrial archaeological interest and therefore of concern to us all. The properties are grouped, as in the original publication, by region and local planning authority. The full register can be viewed on the English Heritage website: www.english-heritage.org.uk. Within it, go to Heritage at Risk and the appropriate region.

The condition of each structure is graded as: Very Bad, Poor, Fair and Good. The level of risk is assessed on a scale of A to F, with ‘A’ at risk of rapid decay or collapse with no plan or scheme for restoration agreed, and ‘F’ schemes of restoration or adaption already under way, with final use identified. With exceptions for what seem to me to be particularly significant sites, I have only included properties assessed A, B (rapid deterioration likely, solution agreed but not implemented) and C (slow decay, no solution agreed) or where the condition is Very Bad. Otherwise I have selected those properties most likely to be significant to the study of the industrial period, with the exception of specialist industrial buildings earlier than about 1700. Bridges are only included if they are of technical interest. Also included are specialised workers’ housing, and buildings built to service the new farming methods of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Buildings associated with large country houses and estates are only included if they used new building materials such as iron or concrete, housed industries or provided services such as water, gas or electricity supply. Fortifications are only included if their construction used new building materials.

I have done my best to avoid transcription errors, but I have no doubt that I have omitted some sites others will think should have been mentioned and vice versa. Remember that the Association cannot possibly write to the relevant authorities about all these sites, and it is up to individuals in each area to take action, rally support and make a case for the rescue and preservation of sites they believe to be important.

David Alderton
October 2008