More than a dozen North East heritage sites have been removed from Historic England’s ‘at risk’ register – but eight new ones have been added.
Conservation areas in Guisborough and Kirk Merrington are among the 13 North East sites taken off the annual Heritage at Risk Register for 2022, published by Historic England today (Thursday, November 10).
Other North East conservation success stories include the Church of Holy Trinity in Sunderland and the iron gates and railings at Lambton Castle in County Durham which are also no longer deemed at risk.
It’s not all positive news though as eight North East sites have been added to the risk register this year.
They include St Mary’s Lighthouse Conservation Area in Whitley Bay and the locomotive coaling drops at Shildon in County Durham.
Historic England says that sites added to the register are at risk of being lost forever as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.
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However, as the 13 sites removed from the register shows, it is possible to restore sites of historic importance through the right combination of conservation schemes, community efforts and funding.
Historic England itself awarded more than £600,000 in grants in the past year to historic places in the North East and its regional director Trevor Mitchell said: “The 13 sites saved this year in the North East show what’s possible with funding support, committed partnerships and dedicated volunteers.
“Historic England’s Heritage at Risk programme is working with local people, councils, businesses and volunteer groups to rescue precious historic places so they can bring joy and economic benefits to their communities, now and for generations to come.
“The restoration of iconic landmarks like Hadrian’s Wall show what can be achieved with imagination and commitment.
“As the threat of climate change grows, the reuse and sensitive upgrading of historic buildings and places becomes ever more important.
“Finding new uses for buildings and sites rescued from the Register avoids the high carbon emissions associated with demolishing structures and building new.”
One North East success story has seen new life breathed into the once-dilapidated Guisborough Town Hall.
The building was bought by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and thanks to a combination of council funding and cash from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the town hall has been transformed.
Seaham is another North East town whose Conservation Area has now been removed from the Heritage at Risk Register.
It was added to the list in 2012 due to a combination of poor-quality shop fronts, a lack of general property maintenance, vacant properties, and the widespread use of signage, which jarred with the area’s historic character.
In 2019 Durham County Council launched the Lottery-funded Seaham Townscape Heritage Project which is working to reverse the decline of the Conservation Area.
And it has already made significant improvements including resurfacing and widening town centre pedestrian areas, awarding grants to repair historic buildings and highlighting the town’s railway heritage by installing interpretation panels next to remains of the Rainton and Seaham Line, which opened in 1831.
Meanwhile in Sunderland, the Grade I-listed Church of Holy Trinity has undergone a transformation that has seen it taken off the risk register.
The early 18th-century parish church - a rare example built in the North East since the Reformation -was consecrated in 1719 and also served as the town hall, Magistrate’s Court and a library.
The church became redundant in 1988 and custodianship was passed onto The Churches Conservation Trust.
Over the past three decades, the Trust has worked to bring the church back to life for the benefit of the local community.
Despite the Trust’s maintenance and repair programme, the building was added to the Heritage at Risk register in 2014 due to structural problems and lack of a sustainable use.
Since then, major investment from funders has enabled significant repairs to the building and secured its future as cultural and learning venue, Seventeen Nineteen.
Meanwhile in Yorkshire, ten historic buildings and sites have been added to the 2022 Register because of their deteriorating condition and 11 sites have been saved and their futures secured.
Sites saved include a collection of Grade II Georgian garden buildings at Ripley Castle in North Yorkshire.
Across England, 233 entries have been removed from the Register for positive reasons, while 175 sites have been added because of concerns about their condition.
Here are the full lists of North East sites removed and added to the Heritage at Risk Register 2022:
Added to risk register
- St Mary’s Lighthouse Conservation Area, Whitley Bay
- Spittal Conservation Area, Berwick upon Tweed
- Church of St Paul, Church Bank, Jarrow, South Tyneside
- Adderstone Hall, Northumberland
- Lordenshaw multivallate hillfort, Romano-British settlements, field system, cairnfield, cross dyke, round cairn cemetery, rock art and medieval park pale, Northumberland
- Glead's Cleugh Iron Age promontory fort, Northumberland
- Ancient settlements on Hartside Hill, Northumberland
- Locomotive coaling drops, Shildon, County Durham
Removed from risk register
- Church of Holy Trinity, Church Street East, Sunderland
- Iron gates and railings, Lambton Castle, Lambton Park, County Durham
- Church of St Aidan, Tarset, Northumberland
- Hadrian's Wall and associated features between the field boundary west of turret 37a and the road to Steel Rigg car park in wall miles 37, 38 and 39
- Dovecote, 45 metres south of Gainford Hall, Gainford, County Durham
- Union Chain Bridge, Norhumberland
- Gainford Hall, Low Road, Gainford, County Durham
- Guisborough Conservation Area, Tees Valley
- Low Harperley Farmhouse, A689, Wolsingham, County Durham
- Northern ring cairn on Coldsmouth Hill, Kilham, Northumberland
- Southern ring cairn on Coldsmouth Hill, Kilham, Northumberland
- Packhorse Bridge, Headlam, County Durham
- Kirk Merrington Conservation Area, Spennymoor, County Durham
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