English Heritage report highlights England's industrial heritage in danger

Industrial listed buildings are more at risk than other kinds of heritage in England, according to a new report by English Heritage.

Whereas on average three percent of grade I and II* listed buildings are in jeopardy, this rises to nearly 11 percent for industrial buildings such as factories, mills and mines.

Among the many problems in preserving the sites highlighted in the report are the costs involved in maintaining large buildings and the expense of restoring them or converting them to other uses.

Developers are often not interested in such projects and it can be difficult to raise finance, particularly in the current economic climate.

However, the report also shows that the public is strongly behind such work, with 80 percent of those asked considering industrial heritage sites just as important as castles and country houses.

Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: "Britain led the way in global industrialisation and as a result we are custodians of the world's most important industrial heritage."

Thurley believes that 40 percent of the buildings on the Heritage at Risk Register could be put to new uses for manufacturing, technology, green engineering or creative businesses.

The other 60 percent is more of a challenge. These may be buildings containing historic machinery, bridges, kilns or mines. They are difficult to redevelop, but they are often valued for their historic importance and loved by the public.

English Heritage is responding to the problem with a set of measures to help save such buildings, including increased funding and more advice and support for those interested in preserving industrial sites in England.

On October 31 2011, the first ever English Heritage Angel Awards, co-funded by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, will celebrate voluntary involvement in preserving historic buildings with a prize for the best rescue of an industrial heritage building or site at risk.

The top key 10 industrial sites of outstanding importance on the Heritage at Risk register are:

Ditherington Flax Mill, Shrewsbury
Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent
Stanley Mill, Gloucestershire
Stanley Dock, Liverpool
Bowes Railway, Tyne and Wear
Soho Foundry, West Midlands
Battersea Power Station, London
Sleaford Maltings, Lincolnshire
Backbarrow Iron Works, Cumbria
Elsecar Engine, South Yorkshire