Across England, the past year has brought a wave of new protections for some of the nation’s most unusual and evocative historic sites. From Victorian ironmongers and shipwrecks lying deep beneath the waves, to quirky gnome gardens and the technological relics that powered the communication age, 2025 has been a banner year for heritage preservation. Historic England, the public body responsible for safeguarding the country’s cultural treasures, added 199 new sites to the National Heritage List and upgraded the status of many others, reflecting an ever-evolving understanding of what defines the nation’s story.
These newly protected places are as diverse as the stories they tell. According to BBC News, among the standout additions is the so-called Pin Wreck off Dorset’s coast, the only shipwreck of its type known to have survived. Discovered 35 years ago and identified in 2024 as a naval vessel dating from the mid-19th to early 20th century, this steam mooring lighter was lost in 1903 while traveling from Portsmouth to Portland. Its hundreds of yellow copper bolts earned it the nickname, and it’s now recognized as a nationally important archaeological site. As marine archaeologist Hefin Meara from Historic England put it, “It’s fascinating for me to see how shipwrecks that have lain there and been dived for for years and years still have new things to reveal every time people go and dive them.”
On land, the Adams Heritage Centre in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, stands as a rare “time capsule” of Victorian commercial life. Built in 1893, the former ironmongers shop became renowned for fitting and maintaining Norwegian ice skates, serving the fen skating communities of East Anglia. The shop’s original features—including tall wooden shelving, ornate display windows, and a steel-framed structure advanced for its time—are remarkably intact. As trustee Nicola Power explained to BBC, “Everybody appreciates it when they come in and see it and so many local community groups are involved. I think everybody feels like they belong here somehow.” The building, now a community centre, has achieved Grade II listing, ensuring its preservation for future generations.
Heritage protection in 2025 wasn’t limited to the distant past. The National Heritage List for England, as reported by the Daily Mail, also recognized more recent innovations. In Greenwich, a steel cable hauler and gantry at Enderby’s Wharf—crucial for loading the first successful transatlantic telephone cable in 1956—were listed as scheduled monuments. These structures symbolize England’s pivotal role in global communications, laying the foundations for today’s subsea internet cables. Tajinder Bhambra, managing director of Alcatel Submarine Networks UK, told BBC, “There’s a high probability that if you’re using a connected device anywhere in the world, you’re using something that has been made in Greenwich. Your modern daily connected life would not be possible without our systems.”
Not all of the year’s listings are without controversy. The Renold Building in Manchester, a 1960s modernist lecture theatre block, was granted protection amid divided opinions. Some hail it as a “modernist icon” and a symbol of academic innovation, while others deride it as an “outdated eyesore” emblematic of post-war architecture’s less-loved era. This tension highlights the ongoing debate over what should be preserved—a debate that’s as much about taste and values as it is about bricks and mortar.
Other new entries to the list showcase the quirky and the whimsical. The enchanting gnome garden at Tudor Croft in North Yorkshire, created in the 1930s, features terracotta gnomes, pixies, and elves peeking from undergrowth and rockeries. The garden’s Arts and Crafts design and magical inhabitants offer a playful window into interwar suburban life and the era’s fascination with fairytale motifs. Meanwhile, the Bournville Radio Sailing and Model Boat Club’s boathouse in Birmingham, built by the philanthropic Cadbury family in 1933, stands as a rare survivor among pre-war model boating clubhouses, reflecting both social history and community spirit.
Some sites speak to more somber chapters. In Thorneycroft Wood, Surrey, the best-preserved “Dragon’s Teeth” anti-tank defences—pyramid-shaped concrete blocks built in 1941–42—were listed as scheduled monuments. These fortifications, set up by the Royal Engineers and manned by the 4th Guildford Battalion Surrey Home Guard, were designed to repel a feared Nazi invasion during World War II. According to the Daily Mail, they are among the finest surviving examples of Britain’s wartime defensive network, their presence a tangible reminder of national anxiety and resilience.
Religious and architectural innovation also found recognition. Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd and completed in 1967, was upgraded from Grade II to Grade I, marking it as a site of “exceptional interest.” Its radical circular design, with worshippers gathered around a central altar and a soaring lantern of colored glass, broke with centuries of ecclesiastical tradition. Deacon Paul Mannings, reflecting on the cathedral’s impact, said, “Others have said, ‘I’ve gone into the cathedral feeling not at one with the world. Yet when I go in, it’s like an oasis of calmness comes around me’.”
Rural industry and ingenuity were celebrated with the upgrading of Draper’s Windmill in Margate, Kent, from Grade II to Grade II. Built around 1843, this timber-framed smock mill is a rare operational survivor from the age before steam-powered roller milling. Robin Colyer, who has been involved with the mill since childhood, described the community’s efforts to restore it: “There was no thought originally that the mill would ever grind corn again.” Now, thanks to volunteers, its machinery whirs once more, a living testament to local heritage.
Listing isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about safeguarding a living, breathing history. The National Heritage List for England classifies sites by importance, with Grade I for exceptional interest and Grade II for special interest. These designations offer legal protection against unsympathetic changes, ensuring that future generations can experience the full richness of the nation’s story—from Neolithic cairns in the Yorkshire Dales to Victorian ‘tin tabernacle’ churches in Essex, and even the quirky coal duty boundary posts that once encircled London after the Great Fire of 1666.
Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross, speaking on December 11, 2025, emphasized the significance of this year’s additions: “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 199 heritage sites, from neolithic cairns in the Yorkshire Dales to the fabulous Catholic Cathedrals in the heart of Liverpool. I’m proud that we’re safeguarding our rich history so future generations can continue to enjoy it.”
This year’s listings remind us that history is everywhere—sometimes hidden beneath the waves, sometimes standing proudly on city streets, and sometimes peeking from a garden bed with a gnome’s cheeky grin. England’s heritage, in all its eccentricity and beauty, remains a living patchwork, ready to be explored by those willing to look a little closer.
