English Heritage

We were delighted to be joined by Sir Chris Bryant, the Minister responsible for heritage, at our Chair’s annual reception this week and to hear his reflections about the value and importance of heritage to our communities and our country. It was wonderful to welcome friends, supporters and partners from across the heritage sector and beyond and to share with them some of the highlights of our work as a charity this year, from supporting more local communities to connect with their heritage to continuing to conserve the more than one million historic objects in our care. We were also lucky to hear a performance from Isabel Maria, a young singer-songwriter some of whose songs are inspired by English Heritage sites. Those songs came out of a youth engagement project in partnership with We Make Culture.

Calling all young animators! 🎬 Our national youth engagement programme, Shout Out Loud, in partnership with the Aardman Academy, is now looking for submissions to our new Animated Histories Film Festival. Submit your short animation inspired by a heritage-related story or theme, and your film could be one of ten showcased at the Film Festival in 2025. 🏆 Excitingly, the overall winner of the 18-25-year-old category will also have the opportunity for a paid commission to create a stop-motion animation mentored by experts from the Aardman Academy and English Heritage. Submissions are open to 11–25-year-olds until 15/12/24: https://brnw.ch/21wNqd0

📢 Delighted to announce that we’re creating a new mobile conservation science lab! This will allow us to get a better sense of the impact of climate change not only on the sites and artefacts in English Heritage’s care but across the heritage sector. 🚐 Our new mobile lab would not be possible without the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and UK Research and Innovation, so a huge thank you to them. Our project in collaboration with Historic England – Creating a national integrated mobile and fixed lab for collections, historic buildings and sites – is part of the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council through the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. We’re excited to be collaborating with Birkbeck, University of London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd to help extend our national facility’s capability, offering partners and external users access to a wider range of research equipment and expertise. Find out more here: https://brnw.ch/21wNlOL

Whitby Abbey’s celebrating heritage game-changers! 🥳 For 30 years, the National Lottery has been a game-changer for heritage projects across England. In celebration, we’re thrilled that Whitby Abbey is playing host to this incredible natural installation by David Popa. The installation recognises seven individuals who've made a big impact on UK heritage and culture. 🌳 The National Lottery Heritage Fund #NationalLottery30

Flower power! 🌸 🌷 🌹 We’re delighted to welcome back our dahlia show at Stonehenge this September! Visitors can enjoy spectacular floral displays, including two fresh floral mannequins designed by @fleursdeville, as we travel back in time to dahlia shows that were hosted here in the Victorian era. 📅 Fri 27 – Sun 29 Sept 🕒 9.30am – 7pm Find out more → https://brnw.ch/21wNfqv

Our Conservation in Action van has been on the road again, visiting Audley End, Marble Arch and Kenilworth Castle in recent weeks! 🚐 From paintings conservation to caring for masonry and stone shaping, the van hosts a range of creative hands-on activities for all ages to learn about how we care for our heritage. 🖌️ Thank you to Sir Robert McAlpine for the ongoing Conservation in Action van support.

We’re delighted to welcome Alan Titchmarsh MBE as the new ambassador for our Historic and Botanic Garden Training Programme! The programme offers those passionate about a career in horticulture the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to care for historic and botanic gardens. 🌱 Discover more here: https://brnw.ch/21wMQ1f Thank you to The National Garden Scheme for the year-on-year support of this programme, and to The Royal Horticultural Society, The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and The Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust.

We are delighted that a selection of papers written by our experts will be presented at The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works conference in Peru later this month. 🎨 📖 ✍ Our articles include research on sustainable wrapping for paintings, the impact of climate change on heritage and green ways of stabilising archaeological iron. Read one of our articles on green alternatives for archaeological iron stabilization here ➡ https://lnkd.in/eQzA-vWR Visit the IIC homepage to find out how to join the conference ➡ https://lnkd.in/e7JVrX4y #IICCongress

Congratulations to this year’s Historic and Botanic Garden Training Programme graduates who had their ceremony at Wrest Park yesterday. 🌿 🎓 Through their hard work and dedication, these trainees and apprentices have mastered important skills needed to care for and preserve historic and botanic gardens. 🌱 Thank you to the National Garden Scheme for the ongoing support of this programme, as well as to the Royal Horticultural Society, The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and The Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust. Find out more here about the programme: https://bit.ly/3yDjHbo

We’re looking for an experienced and dedicated People and Culture Director to join us at an exciting time of change for our charity. We want to find an inspiring leader who can be a champion for our people, build on plans to diversify and engage our workforce, and help to deliver the new strategy within our large team, across the huge range of historic sites and locations we care for. Find out more about the role and apply here: https://bit.ly/46VW1eN