Historic England

Historic England is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It was formed on 1 April 2015 as the successor to the statutory functions of English Heritage, which had operated under that name since 1984. The management of the national collection of historic sites passed to a separate charity, the English Heritage Trust. Historic England's head office is in Swindon, and its website is historicengland.org.uk.

Role

Historic England protects and advises on England's historic environment. It:

• maintains the National Heritage List for England, which includes listed buildings and scheduled monuments;
• advises government and local planning authorities as a statutory consultee;
• produces technical advice, guidance and training for owners and heritage professionals;
• publishes research such as the annual Heritage at Risk register.

Historic England does not itself grant consent for alterations to listed buildings; that is the responsibility of local planning authorities, with Historic England advising on more significant cases.

Relevance to roofing

Roofs are among the most important and most often altered parts of historic buildings. Historic England provides technical guidance used by roofers, architects and owners on traditional roofing, including:

• natural slate and stone slate roofs, and sourcing matching materials;
• clay plain tiles and pantiles;
• thatch, including material choice and regional styles;
• sheet lead and other metal roof coverings, including theft of lead and suitable replacements;
• roof timbers, ventilation and moisture in historic buildings.

Changing a roof covering on a listed building, for example from thatch to tile, or from natural slate to a man-made product, usually requires listed building consent. Like-for-like repairs are encouraged.

Other UK nations and countries

Scotland (Historic Environment Scotland), Wales (Cadw) and Northern Ireland have separate heritage bodies. Many other countries have similar national heritage agencies that publish roofing conservation guidance, such as the U.S. National Park Service's Preservation Briefs.