CONTEXT 188 : JUNE 2026 11 THE LISTING PROCESS IN ENGLAND Editorial Enriching and enhancing Where are we with listing in England? Steady as she goes, perhaps. The government sees the point of listing (even the South Bank Centre has been listed at last), understands that the economic value of heritage is consistent with a desire for economic growth, but is struggling with judgments that need to be made about heritage in a net zero economy. We have Historic England’s Missing Pieces Project crowdsourcing initiative, formerly known as Enriching the List, drawing on the knowledge of enthusiasts, owners and local historians about why a place matters to people. Meanwhile, individual cases brought to the attention of Historic England can lead to a limited process of amending official list entries (although there will be a charge where they fall outside one of HE’s three stated criteria). There is a long way to go. Some of the listings that conclude with the words ‘interior not inspected’ are 40 years old, and no one has asked to inspect them (better to inform the owner and the planning officer) in those four decades. And the many buildings that are listable, but not listed, face a real threat, especially when owned by a local planning authority which knows that it would not need the secretary of state’s permission to demolish. We may miss the heroic days when in 1973 environment secretary Geoffrey Rippon saved London’s Covent Garden from being demolished by spotlisting 250 buildings overnight; or when Michael Heseltine, in the same job, responded to the public outcry over the demolition of the Firestone Factory by initiating a four-year Accelerated Resurvey, leading to some 140,000 buildings being added to the National Heritage List for England after 1982. Context last focused an issue on the theme of listing in 2009 (‘Sixty years of listing’, Context 112, November). Among the highlights of that issue was Carole Ryan, who was recruited as a listing investigator in 1968, recalling the original listing survey. They were a tough bunch. Ryan remembered the first chief investigator, Stanley Garton, who had an ancient car with a heating system that did not work, driving with a lit oil stove in the back. Kevin McCloud’s current Channel 4 series Listed Britain is not the first TV examination of listing. Another of the early investigators is the subject of a video that is available online (a 1972 episode of the BBC documentary series Look Stranger, titled ‘The Investigator’, www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZI3e3WS8mFM). Mary Davies had wanted to become an architect; was told that women did not do that; eventually trained in architectural history; and after working with Nikolaus Pevsner took on the job of covering the north of England as a listing investigator, travelling in a caravan in the summer months and writing up during the winter. Watch it and admire the pioneers; read this issue to find out where listing in England is now. We will be focusing on the listing process in the other home nations in future issues. Dorman Long tower, Middlesbrough (1955–56), was demolished after Historic England’s listing recommendation was overturned by the minister. See Catherine Croft’s article on page 28 (Photo: Simon Phipps)
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