Ancient burial sites are at risk of being lost unless urgent action is taken, according to a report released this morning by Historic England.
Barrows, the burial mounds first constructed by Neolithic and Bronze Age societies and revived by the Anglo-Saxons, make up 16 per cent of the sites identified as being most at risk, largely as a result of modern farming methods.
Animals, plants and trees can also pose a threat. Giant’s Grave, a long barrow on the Breamore estate in Hampshire, has been severely damaged by badgers, and three barrows south of Hart Hill Plantation in West Dorset had to be rescued from suffocating vegetation. Of the 5,467 protected barrows in England, 854 were found to be at risk.
“While the barrows are important for archaeology, they’re also important for their effect on the landscape,” said Greg Luton, the heritage at risk director for Historic England. “They tell an important story in their own right and to lose that would be terrible.”
The Heritage at Risk Register, published annually, also identifies several more recent structures in need of protection. The grade II*-listed Naze Tower, in Essex, was built as a lookout post in 1720, and used during the Napoleonic, First and Second World Wars. An attempt to install radar during the Blitz led to cracking, and a botched repair job in 1970 has resulted in damp.
Advertisement
Another military installation, National Filling Factory No 9, hidden in bushes to the side of the M40 near Banbury, Oxfordshire, was originally built to add high explosive to shells, but by 1918 had been converted to produce poison gas. It employed 1,500 local people, a third of them women, who came to be known as “canaries” after exposure to toxic chemicals discoloured their skin. The site is now overgrown with scrub and its concrete and brick structures are in danger of collapse.
The most recent building on the list is the Church of St Thomas More, Birmingham, which is grade II-listed. Built in 1968 entirely from concrete, it boasts spectacular stained-glass windows by John Chrestien. As with so many places of worship, the roof is leaking.
The good news is that several structures featured on last year’s list have been rescued, including the massive Cardington airship sheds in Bedfordshire