The national charity caring for over 400 of England's historic sites, from Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall to medieval castles and Tudor palaces.
English Heritage is the national charity that cares for and champions England's spectacular historic environment. It manages over 400 historic sites in the care of the nation — including some of the most iconic places in the world: Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall, Tintagel Castle, Dover Castle, Kenilworth Castle, Osborne House, and Boscobel House.
The charity's conservation teams work with some of the most challenging and significant historic fabric in the country, employing specialist craftspeople and applying research-led approaches to the repair and maintenance of the national collection. This practical, hands-on expertise in caring for a vast range of building types, periods, and materials makes English Heritage one of the largest employers of traditional building skills in England.
English Heritage also produces and publishes technical guidance on conservation practice, runs educational and outreach programmes, and maintains a membership scheme whose income funds a significant proportion of the conservation work carried out across the collection.
The charity's conservation teams work with some of the most challenging and significant historic fabric in the country, employing specialist craftspeople and applying research-led approaches to the repair and maintenance of the national collection. This practical, hands-on expertise in caring for a vast range of building types, periods, and materials makes English Heritage one of the largest employers of traditional building skills in England.
English Heritage also produces and publishes technical guidance on conservation practice, runs educational and outreach programmes, and maintains a membership scheme whose income funds a significant proportion of the conservation work carried out across the collection.
History
English Heritage as it exists today was created on 1 April 2015, when the original Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England — which had traded under the English Heritage name since 1984 — was divided into two separate organisations. The statutory and advisory functions transferred to the new body Historic England; the charity retaining the English Heritage name took on responsibility for the national collection of historic properties.The original English Heritage had been established by the National Heritage Act 1983, bringing together functions previously dispersed across several government departments, including the Ministry of Works and the Department of the Environment. Over the following three decades it became one of the most significant heritage organisations in the world, both as the managing body for a vast collection of historic properties and as the statutory adviser to government on the historic environment in England. The 2015 separation was intended to give both successor bodies clearer focus and greater freedom to pursue their respective missions.
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