Heritage Treasures at Risk
In every corner of the North East, our heritage is at risk. But how much of it? Where? What from? And what can be done to save it?
View from Tarset Castle (Tarset Burn)
To answer these questions English Heritage has completed the first phase of a modern Domesday Book of the threatened parts of our cities, towns and countryside. Entitled Heritage At Risk, the project’s first annual report, launched on Tuesday 8 July, reveals that overall, of the 70,000 protected heritage sites assessed so far, no fewer than 1 in 12 is at high risk of neglect or decay or inappropriate change. And in the North East, there are more than 120 Grade I and Grade II listed buildings and structural monuments at risk.
In the North East, key sites at risk include Tarset Castle, near Bellingham in Northumberland National Park . For centuries, the castle played a key role in defending Tynedale against the Scots. Dating back to 1267, it was a strategically vital fortress, close to the border and had a turbulent past. Today, what remains of the castle faces a new enemy – erosion. Landslips caused by the nearby Tarset Burn are destabilising the mound that the castle stands on. If nature were left to take its course, it would result in the inevitable loss of this scheduled monument and its nationally important archaeological deposits.
Other sites on the at-risk register include Dunston Staiths on the River Tyne; the site of the battle of Newburn Ford in Newcastle; Bowes railway and Springwell Colliery; and Woolsington Park on the outskirts of Newcastle.
Carol Pyrah, English Heritage’s Planning and Development Regional Director in the North East, said: “Although we can take some comfort in the fact that significant progress has been made on numerous sites across the North East, the region has actually suffered a net gain in the number of sites at risk and the need for action is as urgent as ever.
“Whilst grant aid remains important, money is not always the most vital ingredient in the conservation mix. Brokering solutions in partnership with owners, local authorities and other interested parties remains a key part of the recipe for success.”
The new Heritage At Risk project extends the winning formula of English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk Register (which since it began in 1998 has seen 45% of entries saved), to scheduled monuments and archaeology, registered historic landscapes, parks, gardens and battlefields and even protected wreck sites off our coasts.
Over the next few years, conservation areas, listed places of worship and Grade II buildings will be added to make England the first country in the world to have a comprehensive picture of every bit of its protected heritage at risk and the analysis to save it.
The Heritage At Risk website contains more information on this project, a film presented by Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, plus access to the on-line Register - www.english-heritage.org.uk/risk.
