A GROUP that fights to protect historic buildings from demolition and destruction is appealing for the public's help.

The Victorian Society has opened nominations for its list of the top 10 endangered buildings in England and Wales.

The campaign hopes to shine a light on Victorian and Edwardian buildings in desperate need of saving.

Nominated buildings can be those at risk of demolition, decay or destruction.

The society hopes people will be able to alter the fate of forgotten, historic buildings for the better.

Griff Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society, said: “The Top 10 Endangered Buildings list is coming up again. I urge you to consider nominating a building.

"We get publicity and genuine help for threatened heritage from it. We get attention. And we tend to get increased membership too. We have seen some extraordinary cases over the years.

"Some amazing buildings. The fight has to go on. We need in these straitened times of emergency growth to make an ever more cogent case for the value of heritage and the importance of informed recycling.”

How to nominate a building

To nominate a building email media@victoriansociety.org.uk and include details of the year it was built, its location, and whether it is listed. People sending in a nomination must also include a brief description of its history and/or architecture, the threat it is under, and at least one good photo. 

Nominated buildings must be based in England or Wales and built between 1837 and 1914. Preference is given to listed buildings, the Society said. Multiple nominations do not help secure inclusion. 

The deadline for nominations is December 31, 2024. 

The society recently visited Bradford for a tour of the area’s heritage buildings.

Held as part of its AGM, James Grierson, new chair of the group, said at the time: “I struggle to think of anywhere else that has got such a collection of Victorian buildings like Bradford.

“30 years ago I studied in Bradford business school, so I was looking at it with a view to how much it has changed since then. It has got a lot better, an awful lot of buildings have been restored."

The Victorian Society said its 2024 list of nominated endangered buildings had led to positive developments. 

St Agnes’ Vicarage and Hall, Sefton Park in Liverpool - designed by Norman Shaw, the architect of City Hall in Bradford - were placed on the market by the Church of England. 

Meanwhile, The Chance Heritage Trust-owned former Glassworks in Smethwick in the West Midlands was awarded £250,000 of support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in August.