English Heritage is a registered charity that looks after the National Heritage
Collection. This comprises over 400 of England's historic buildings, monuments
and sites spanning more than 5,000 years of history. Within its portfolio are
Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle and the best preserved parts of
Hadrian's Wall. English Heritage also manages the London Blue Plaques scheme,
which links influential historical figures to particular buildings.
When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an
executive non-departmental public body of the British Government, officially
titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that
ran the national system of heritage protection and managed a range of
historic properties. It was created to combine the roles of existing bodies
that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage
protection. In 1999 the organisation merged with the Royal Commission on the
Historical Monuments of England and the National Monuments Record, bringing
together resources for the identification and survey of England's
historic environment. On 1 April 2015, English Heritage was
divided into two parts: Historic England, which inherited the statutory
and protection functions of the old organisation, and the new English
Heritage Trust, a charity that would operate the historic properties, and
which took on the English Heritage operating name and logo. The British
government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to help establish it as an
independent trust, although the historic properties remained in the ownership of
the state. History
= Non-departmental public body = Over the centuries, what is now called
'heritage' has been the responsibility of a series of state departments. There
was the 'Kings Works' after the Norman Conquest; the Office of Works; the
Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works; and the Ministry of Works.
Responsibility subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Public Building and
Works then to the Department of the Environment and now the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport. The state's legal responsibility for the historic
environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. Central
government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection
for different types of 'assets', introducing listing for buildings after
WW2 and conservation areas in the 1960s. In 1983 Secretary of State for the
Environment Michael Heseltine gave national responsibility for the historic
environment to a semi‑autonomous agency to operate under ministerial guidelines
and to government policy. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission was
formed under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 on 1 April 1984. The
1983 Act also dissolved the bodies that had previously provided independent
advice – the Ancient Monuments Board for England and the Historic Buildings
Council for England and incorporated these functions in the new body. Soon
after, the commission gained the operating name of English Heritage by
its first Chairman, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
A national register of historic parks and gardens, was set up in 1984, and a
register for historic battlefields was created in March 1995. 'Registration' is
a material consideration in the planning process. In April 1999 English Heritage
merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the
National Monuments Record, bringing together resources for the
identification and survey of England's historic environment. By adoption this
included responsibility for the national record of archaeological sites from the
Ordnance Survey; the National Library of Aerial Photographs, and two million RAF
and Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. These, together with other nationally
important external acquisitions, meant that English Heritage was one of the
largest publicly accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are
available online, including more than 426,000 images. In 2010–2011 it recorded
4.3 million unique online user sessions and over 110,000 people visited NMR
exhibitions held around the country in 2009/10. In 2012 the section responsible
for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive.
As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage acquired
administrative responsibility for historic wrecks and submerged landscapes
within 12 miles of the English coast. The administration of the listed
building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006.
However, actual listing decisions still remained the responsibility of the
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who is required by the
Planning Act 1990 to approve a list of buildings of special architectural or
historic interest. Following the Public Bodies Reform in
2010, English Heritage was confirmed as the government's statutory adviser on
the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant
funding for heritage assets. It was retained on grounds of "performing a
technical function which should remain independent from Government". However
the department also suffered from budget cuts during the recession of the 2010s
resulting in a repairs deficit of £100 million.
= Charitable Trust = In June 2013 the British Government
announced plans to provide an £80 million grant to enable English Heritage
to become a self-financing charity. The national portfolio of historic
properties remain in public ownership, but the new English Heritage will be
licensed to manage them. The change occurred on 1 April 2015 with
the statutory planning and heritage protection functions remaining an
independent, non-departmental public body, rebranded as Historic England. The
care of the properties in the National Collection and the visitor experience
attached to them were transferred to the new English Heritage Trust, although the
English Heritage name and logo remains. The new trust has a licence to operate
the properties until 2023. National Collection
English Heritage is the guardian of over 400 sites and monuments, the most famous
of which include Stonehenge, Iron Bridge and Dover Castle. Whilst many have an
entry charge, more than 250 properties are free to enter including Maiden
Castle, Dorset and St Catherine's Oratory.
The sites are part of the portfolio of over 880 historical places across the UK
amassed by the British Government between the 1880s and the 1970s to form
the National Collection of built and archaeological heritage. These sites
represent a deliberate attempt by the state in the 19th and early 20th century
to take the nation's most significant prehistoric sites and medieval sites,
which were no longer in active use, into public ownership. This national property
collection performs the same function as pictures in the National Gallery and the
archaeological material in the British Museum.
Unlike the National Trust, English Heritage holds few furnished properties.
New sites are rarely added to the collection as other charities and
institutions are now encouraged to care for them and open them to the public.
One recent acquisition, in late 2011, was the Harmondsworth Barn in west
London, close to Heathrow airport. The properties are held by English
Heritage under various arrangements. The majority are in the guardianship of the
Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with the
freehold being retained by the owner. The remaining properties are either
owned by English Heritage, other government departments or the Crown
Estate. In 2013-14 there were 5.73 million
visits to staffed sites, with 713,000 free educational visits to sites,
collections and tailored learning activities and resources.
Funding As a charitable trust, English Heritage
relies on the income generated from admission fees to their properties,
membership and other tradable income such as catering, holiday cottages and
merchandise. Furthermore, they undertake fundraising campaigns and make use of
grants. To ease the transition, the government has supplied £80 million
until 2023 to cover a funding deficit, specifically to tackle the backlog of
maintenance to the sites in English Heritage's care.
Previously, when English Heritage was a non-departmental public body and
included the functions of planning, listing, awarding grants, heritage
research and advice - most of its funding derived from a government
funding. In 2013–2014, English Heritage had a total income of £186.55 million of
which £99.85 million came from government through grant-in-aid with the
remaining £86.7 million coming from earned sources. This included £17.47
million from property admissions, £14.96 million from catering and retail, £22.91
million from membership and £26.39 million from donations and grants.
Membership Members of the public are actively
encouraged to join English Heritage as a member. Membership provides benefits
such as free admission to its properties and member-only events as well as
reduced admission to associated properties. Members also get access for
free or reduced cost to properties managed by Cadw in Wales, Historic
Scotland, the Office of Public Works in the Republic of Ireland, Manx National
Heritage on the Isle of Man and Heritage New Zealand. In 2013/14 there were 1.32
million members. However membership does not convey voting rights or influence
over the way English Heritage is run. Participation in consultations and
web-based surveys facilitated by English Heritage is not restricted to its
membership. It invites various groups and members of the public to give views
on specific issues, most notably in recent years, about the Stonehenge road
tunnel project proposals. Volunteering
The organisation welcomes volunteers. Roles range from room stewarding,
running education workshops and gardening, to curatorial cleaning and
research. In 2013/14 the number of regular
volunteers reached 1,473. Management and governance
English Heritage is governed by a Trustee Board who set the strategic
direction of the organisation and ensure that the organisation delivers it goals
and objectives. It is led by the Chairman, currently Vice Admiral Sir Tim
Laurence. Other trustees are Alex Balfour, Vicky Barnsley OBE, Sukie
Hemming, Ronald Hutton, Kate James-Weed, Sir Laurie Magnus, Ian McCaig, Malcolm
Reading, Sarah Staniforth, James Twining and Charles Gurassa.
Operational management in delegated to the chief executive, Kate Mavor who will
begin on 5 May 2015 from the National Trust for Scotland. The chief executive
is supported by an Executive Board of eight directors.
In 2013/14, prior to becoming a charity, English Heritage employed 2,578 staff.
Blue plaque English Heritage has since 1986
administered the blue plaque scheme in London. These recognise places important
to people of significance in the capital and remained the responsibility of
English Heritage following the transfer to the voluntary sector in 2015.
Controversies = English Heritage sites in Cornwall =
In 1999 a pressure group, the Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament, wrote to
English Heritage asking them to remove all signs bearing their name from
Cornish sites by July 1999 as they regarded the ancient sites as Cornish
heritage, not English. Over a period of eleven months members of the Cornish
Stannary removed 18 signs and a letter was sent to English Heritage saying "The
signs have been confiscated and held as evidence of English cultural aggression
in Cornwall. Such racially motivated signs are deeply offensive and cause
distress to many Cornish people". On 18 January 2002, at Truro Crown Court,
after the prosecution successfully applied for a Public Immunity
Certificate to suppress defence evidence, three members of the group
agreed to return the signs and pay £4,500 in compensation to English
Heritage and to be bound over to keep the peace. In return, the prosecution
dropped charges of conspiracy to cause criminal damage.
In 2011 Conservative MP George Eustice stated that Cornish heritage "is not
English" and that there is "a growing feeling that Cornwall should have its
own heritage organisation, taking over from English Heritage." He suggests that
English heritage be replaced "with a Cornish Heritage group, just like they
have for instance in Wales and Scotland." The then Culture Secretary
Jeremy Hunt was called upon to give cash to a new autonomous body in Cornwall by
"top slicing" English Heritage's budget. = Fortress House =
In 2006, The Secretary of State at the DCMS issued a certificate of exemption
from listing for Fortress House, the then English Heritage headquarters. In
2009, it was demolished and the site redeveloped for a commercial office
building. = Photography =
In 2010 the organisation sent an email to open access photograph agency
fotoLibra, attempting to ban the unauthorised commercial use of
photographs of Stonehenge. A subsequent statement of regret was issued,
clarifying that "We do not control the copyright of all images of Stonehenge
and have never tried to do so." The organisation added that they request
that commercial photographers pay fees and abide by certain conditions.
See also List of monastic houses in England
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland Festival of History
Historic Chapels Trust Battle of the Beanfield
List of English Heritage properties in Somerset
= Similar organisations = Cadw
Historic Scotland Manx National Heritage
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
References = Further reading =
Thurley, Simon. Men from the Ministry: How Britain Saved its Heritage. New
Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-19572-9.
External links English Heritage website