Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register for the South Easth has been published, revealing a snapshot of the health of the historic environment here on the Isle of Wight and in surrounding counties.
Across the South East, 18 sites were added to the Register this year including 12 places of worship, and 47 sites were removed and their futures secured.
On the Isle of Wight, there are 27 sites currently at risk. One archaeological site – the bowl barrow on Newbarn Down near Rowridge – has been removed this year and St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Ryde has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register. This church, which was mainly built between 1846-8, has unusual roof tiles which are starting to fail and allow water to penetrate the inside of the building. Historic England will be working with the church to secure funding to make the building watertight once more.
In 2011 the Cowes Hammerhead Crane was very much at risk, rusting badly and unused. It is the last surviving crane of its kind in the country and a rare and important example of British crane design from before the First World War, telling the story of Cowes industrial ship-building past. Thanks to a £76,000 grant from Historic England, works started earlier this year to carry out urgent repairs to Hammerhead Crane, halting the decay of the metalwork.
Sites at risk on the Island include:
• Norris Castle (Grade I Listed Building)
• Northwood House and Hammerhead Crane (Grade II* Listed Buildings)
• All Saints Church in Godshill and St Thomas’ Church in Newport (Grade I Places of Worship)
• Yaverland Battery, Old Quarr Abbey and Bouldnor Battery (Scheduled Monuments – Building or Structure)
• A Medieval settlement in Ashey, a Bronze Age barrow in Newport and two bowl barrows in Fishbourne (Scheduled Monuments – Archaeology)
• Swinaston Manor in Calbourne (Registered Parks and Gardens)
• Conservation Areas in Brading, Carisbrooke, Cowes, Godshill and Newport
• Various churches across the Island
Dr Andy Brown Planning Director for Historic England in the South East said:
“This year’s Register gives us the most complete sense of the state of our nation’s heritage to date. We know barrows are more at risk than any other type of heritage nationally but we also know it’s a different story depending on where you are in the country.
Article continues below this advertisement “The South East’s coastal forts are one of the things that make our region special, and are the things most at risk. If they’re lost, then part of our regional distinctiveness is lost too. Together we can safeguard our most precious places and buildings for future generations to learn from and to remember the debt we owe to our forebears.”
