Historic England has revealed nineteen of the most remarkable and unusual historic places granted protection in England during 2025, demonstrating how heritage can be found in everything from ancient landscapes to modern architecture, from subtle street level details to working industrial infrastructure.

In its annual update, Historic England confirms that one hundred and ninety-nine historic buildings and sites have been added to the National Heritage List for England in 2025. The total includes one hundred and seventy-three listings, twenty-one scheduled monuments and five parks and gardens. A further one hundred and twenty-nine amendments have been made to existing entries, ranging from upgrades to more detailed list descriptions, which shows that protection involves not only identifying new places of interest but also recognising how understanding and significance change over time.

The highlights range from prehistoric monuments to late twentieth century design. They include a Neolithic long cairn in the Yorkshire Dales dating to around 3400 to 2400 BC, an exceptionally rare shipwreck off the Dorset coast that was lost in 1903, and Second World War anti-tank defences in Surrey. The selection also spans post war architecture in Manchester and Liverpool, Victorian commercial buildings, traditional wayfinding markers and Arts and Crafts gardens, including one that is populated by terracotta gnomes and elves.

Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire, Co-Chief Executives of Historic England, remarked: "These newly protected places demonstrate the remarkable diversity of England’s heritage. They connect us to the people and events that shaped our communities. From ancient burial sites to shipwrecks and wartime defences to post-modernist buildings, street furniture and Arts and Crafts gardens, these sites reveal the fascinating history that surrounds us all.”

Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross observed: “Britain’s heritage is as varied as it is brilliant, with each of these buildings playing a part in shaping our national story over the centuries. This year alone we have protected one hundred and ninety-nine heritage sites, from Neolithic cairns in the Yorkshire Dales to the Catholic cathedrals in the heart of Liverpool. I am proud that we are safeguarding our rich history so future generations can continue to enjoy it."

Among the most distinctive new designations is the dockside equipment at Enderby’s Wharf in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, which is now protected as a scheduled monument. A steel cable gantry built between 1897 and 1907, together with a cable hauler installed in 1954, is associated with the first successful transatlantic telephone cable, TAT 1, which became operational in 1956. The equipment enabled heavy cable to be loaded onto specialist ships and reflects Greenwich’s role in the evolution of global undersea communications.

Modern architecture is also recognised through the Grade II listing of the Renold Building on the University of Manchester’s former UMIST campus. Opened in the early nineteen sixties, it was designed as a purpose-built lecture theatre block that brought multiple theatres into a single structure and created capacity for thousands of students. In Liverpool, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King has been upgraded from Grade II star to Grade I in recognition of the significance of Sir Frederick Gibberd’s design and the way its centralised plan reshaped the worship space. London is represented by the listing of Cobham Mews Studios at Grade II, the late nineteen eighties studio designed by David Chipperfield Architects, which draws on small scale industrial forms and uses rooflights and glass bricks to bring daylight into the working spaces.

Heritage protection is also responding to changing conditions and environmental risk. In Cornwall, Bude Storm Tower, known locally as the Pepperpot, has had its list entry updated following another relocation prompted by coastal erosion. New details have been added about its construction and setting.

Several of the newly highlighted protections focus on everyday life and the built environment of towns and villages. Adams Heritage Centre in Littleport has been listed at Grade II as a remarkably intact former Victorian ironmongers. Three cast iron guideposts in Ashley in Cheshire have also been listed, while coal duty boundary markers in Essex have been recognised as physical reminders of historic taxation and the pressures of urban growth.

Charles O’Brien, Listing and Architectural Research Director at Historic England, reflected: “This selection of highlights from the additions to the National Heritage List for England is a timely reminder each year of the wonderful variety of buildings and places whose special architectural or historic interest can be identified and protected for us to enjoy and appreciate now and in the future.”

Alongside the new listings, Historic England is encouraging the public to contribute stories and images through its Missing Pieces Project, strengthening local knowledge around protected places and helping to complete the wider record.

Written By: Lee-John Ryan