Historic England, which keeps a watch over sites that are important to England’s heritage has warned that a number of famous sights are in danger of being lost, through neglect, decay or inappropriate development.
Among the 63 new sites added to their register of at-risk places are the aviary at London’s Zoo, the church that is said to be the birthplace of feminism, and a historic fort on Portsdown Hill, built to defend against a long-ago French invasion that never came.
The aviary is relatively new, dating only to the 1960s. It is the second-largest walkthrough aviary in the world, but is in need of major repair. Newington Green Unitarian Church, where Mary Shelley was inspired to write A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792 is described as being in poor condition. Also on the list is Brighton Old Town.
On the positive side, Historic England reported that despite the additions, the danger list is down by 137 to 5341. The group, formerly known as English Heritage, says that a shortage of skilled tradespeople and a shortage of scaffolding add to the cost of repairs and make it difficult to fund projects.
For more detail, and some wonderful pictures from The Telegraph (UK) click HERE
Photo: Newington Green Unitarian Church (Danny Robinson/Wikimedia)
