English Heritage - History

History

English Heritage (The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is a non-departmental public body which manages the historic built environment of England. Today it is an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The latter was formed in 1997.

Over the centuries, what is now called 'heritage' has been the responsibility of a series of State Departments. There was the 'Kings Works' after the Norman Conquest; the 'Office of Works' (1378-1832); The Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works (1832–1851); and the Ministry of Works (1851–1962). Responsibility subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–1970) then to the Department of the Environment (UK) (1970–1997) and now the DCMS. The state's legal responsibility for the historic environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. Central government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection for different types of 'assets', introducing listing for buildings after WW2 and conservation areas in the 1960s. In 1983 Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine gave national responsibility for the historic environment to a semi‑autonomous agency (or 'quango') to operate under ministerial guidelines and to government policy. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (now known as English Heritage) was formed.

Since then it has amalgamated with other bodies and archives to become the lead body for the heritage sector.

A national register of historic parks and gardens, (e.g. Rangers House, Greenwich) was set up in 1984, and a register for historic battlefields (e.g. the battle of Tewkesbury) was created in March 1995. ‘Registration’ is a material consideration in the planning process. In April 1999 English Heritage merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) and the National Monuments Record (NMR), bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England’s historic environment. By adoption this included responsibility for the national record of archaeological sites from the Ordnance Survey; the National Library of Aerial Photographs, and two million RAF and Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. These, together with other nationally important external acquisitions, means that English Heritage is one of the largest publicly-accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are available online, including more than 426,000 images. In 2010-2011 it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions and over 110,000 people visited NMR exhibitions held around the country in 2009/10 . In 2012 the section responsible for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive.

As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage acquired administrative responsibility for historic wrecks and submerged landscapes within 12 miles of the English coast. The administration of the listed building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006. However, actual listing decisions still remain the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who is required by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to approve a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.

Following the Public Bodies Reform (aka ‘bonfire of the quangos’)in 2010, English Heritage was confirmed as the government's statutory advisor on the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant funding for heritage assets. It was retained on grounds of “performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government”.

English Heritage is only one of several of government sponsored organisations with responsibility for the historic environment. This reflects the length of time that heritage has been legally protected, the number of government reorganisations, and the importance of heritage to the UK economy and society. Local government plays an important role in making conservation decisions locally and keeping local Historic Environment Records (HERs).