English Heritage (EH) has today announced its annual Heritage at Risk Register. It is 15 years since it launched the first register and as a result we now have a much clearer understanding of the state of heritage across England.

Sadly, EH reports that 72 historic buildings or structures have been added to this year’s register.  Eastbourne Pier is amongst them, which was devastated by fire earlier this year. The shipwreck Hazardous, an 18th-century British warship beached in Bracklesham Bay in Sussex during a storm in 1706, is also a new addition.

However, there are plenty of success stories we can celebrate. 100 historic buildings and structures have found sustainable futures and have therefore been removed from the register.  Langham Airfield Dome in Norfolk, built in 1942 to train anti-aircraft gunners, is now in better shape.

The Newman Brothers Coffin Works in Birmingham has now also been removed from the register and is soon to reopen to the public following major restoration funded by £1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Built in 1894, it was the most prestigious manufacturer of coffin fittings in the world, and its products have adorned of the coffins of Sir Winston Churchill,  Joseph Chamberlain and the Queen Mother.

At HLF, we understand the challenges facing historic buildings in need of urgent repair. We’ve invested more than £650million into projects that have helped to repair and re-use buildings at risk across the UK and more than 250 buildings have been removed from national Heritage At Risk registers as a direct result of National Lottery funding.

One way in which we’re responding to the needs of buildings at risk across the UK is through our new Heritage Enterprise programme. It’s been designed to specifically help, when the cost of restoring an historic building is so high that without additional financial intervention, putting it back into use would not be commercially viable.

Find out more about how Heritage Enterprise is helping to transforming heritage at risk across the whole UK.