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| Formation | 1 April 2015 (2015-04-01) |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Non-departmental public body |
| Headquarters | The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EH[1] |
Chairman | Neil Mendoza |
Chief Executive | Duncan Wilson |
Staff | 884[2] |
| Website | historicengland |
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, scheduling ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens and by advising central and local government.
The body was created by the National Heritage Act 1983, and operated from April 1984 to April 2015 under the name of English Heritage.[3] In 2015, following the changes to English Heritage's structure that moved the protection of the National Heritage Collection into the voluntary sector in the English Heritage Trust, the body that remained was rebranded as Historic England.[4]
The body also inherited the Historic England Archive from the former English Heritage, and projects linked to the archive such as Britain from Above, which saw the archive work with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland to digitise, catalogue and put online 96,000 of the oldest Aerofilms images. The archive also houses various national collections, including the results of older projects, such as the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and Images of England (providing online access to images of listed buildings in England as of 2002).
Historic England inherited English Heritage's position as the UK government's statutory adviser and a statutory consultee on all aspects of the historic environment and its heritage assets.[5] This includes archaeology on land and underwater, historic buildings sites and areas, designated landscapes and the historic elements of the wider landscape.[6] It monitors and reports on the state of England's heritage and publishes the annual Heritage at Risk survey which is one of the UK government's official statistics. It is tasked to secure the preservation and enhancement of the human-made heritage of England for the benefit of future generations.[6]
Its remit involves:
It is not responsible for approving alterations to listed buildings. The management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.[11]
Historic England also owns the National Heritage Collection of nationally important historic sites, currently in public care. However, it does not run these sites as this function is instead carried out by the English Heritage Trust under licence until 2023.[13]
The Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport appoints members of the Commission, which is the governing board of the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England and oversees the work of Historic England.[14][15] Since September 2023, the chair of the Commission is Lord Mendoza.[16]
The body is run by an executive team, led since the 2015 restructuring by Duncan Wilson.[17]
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