Seventeen historic sites in London have been added to a Heritage At Risk Register in 2022 because of their deteriorating conditions.
The register is managed by Historic England, who are the public body responsible for England’s historic environment, and provides an overview of which sites are at risk of being lost for reasons such as neglect or new developments.
Overall, there are 631 sites in London on the Heritage At Risk register this year, including 421 buildings and 101 places of worship.
In Wood Green, the Gaumont Palace Cinema opened in 1934 and screened films for 50 years before being closed.
It now has a crumbling façade which is putting pedestrians at risk from falling masonry.
Brenda Reid, 88, pensioner, remembered its golden days and said: “I had some lovely memories in there and now it’s all gone to rot.
“It’s awful to see the state it’s in now.”
The borough with the most sites at risk is Kensington and Chelsea with 31 buildings at risk of being lost.
The borough with the least sites at risk is the City of London with only two places of worship at risk.
Nineteen sites have been removed from the list in 2022 due to being saved through restoration projects.
Boston Manor House is a Grade I listed Jacobean manor house in Hounslow which was saved after a four-year restoration project.
Hyde Vale Fountain in Greenwich has also been saved from the list after being connected to the water supply.
Featured image credit: Daniel Chapman via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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