197 heritage sites added to England’s at-risk register — The Guardian

In England, Historic England has added 197 historic sites to its heritage at risk register. They include Hastings Castle in East Sussex, the wooden chalet where Charles Dickens worked in Rochester, and Fylingdales Moor in North Yorkshire, which was damaged by a wildfire. This was reported by The Guardian.

According to Historic England, hotter summers, stormier winters, extreme weather events and coastal erosion are increasing risks for some historic sites.

The castle and Dickens’ chalet

Hastings Castle was one of the fortifications built on the orders of William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of 1066 to strengthen his position on England’s south coast. Historic England said the ruins have long been affected by their exposed location and coastal erosion, while extreme weather has recently made some areas more vulnerable.

Dickens’ two-storey wooden chalet was added to the register because of its fragile condition and need for repairs. It originally stood in the writer’s garden at Gad’s Hill Place in Higham, Kent, where he could work without distractions. It is believed that Dickens placed mirrors there to rehearse public performances and create new characters. The chalet was moved to Rochester in the 1960s.

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Fires and restoration

A fire on Fylingdales Moor in 2025 damaged about 25 square kilometres of moorland and forest, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service reported. Historic England, together with the North York Moors National Park Authority, is assessing the scale of the damage using drones.

The list also includes Hall’s Croft in Stratford-upon-Avon, the historic home of William Shakespeare’s daughter, whose exterior needs repairs after being damaged by a car, and the 18th-century Bidston Windmill in Wirral.

At the same time, 85 sites were removed from the register following conservation work, including Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall and Edward Jenner’s garden house in Berkeley, described as the site of the world’s first vaccination clinic. In 2025–2026, Historic England allocated more than £12 million in grants to support and repair 135 sites on the register. Nearly 5,000 heritage sites currently remain on it.