Historic England

Historic England, established in 1984 as the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England under the National Heritage Act, is the public body charged with protecting, championing, and promoting England's historic environment—from ancient monuments and World Heritage Sites to everyday heritage like working-class sites and social housing. Its mission emphasizes stewardship for future generations, fostering community pride, economic vitality, and social good through values of expertise, partnership, inclusivity, diversity, climate action, and place-based relevance. As a statutory authority, regulator, adviser, and funder with custody of the National Heritage Collection, it uniquely blends government accountability with evidence-led, community-focused interventions.

It prioritizes funding for conservation, repair, adaptive re-use, research, capacity building, education, community engagement, and heritage-led regeneration of at-risk assets, with strong emphasis on underrepresented stories (BAME, LGBTQ+, disabled, deprived communities), inclusion, wellbeing, skills, and innovation. Key programmes include Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, Heritage Revival Fund, Everyday Heritage Grants, and rolling Heritage Protection Commissions, supporting charities, CICs, community groups, social enterprises, and local authorities via activities like restoration works, exhibitions, digital resources, and volunteering.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, CICs, community groups, and social enterprises delivering direct benefits to England's historic environment (urban/rural, all regions, prioritizing deprived areas); no income thresholds apply, welcoming grassroots to national organizations. Grants range from £1,000 to £500,000 (typically £10,000–£250,000), often requiring match funding and excluding core costs or non-heritage projects outside England. Applications follow a two-stage EOI-then-full process via email (guidance on website), with deadlines like 30 April 2025 (Heritage at Risk EOI) or 27 June 2025 (Heritage Revival), and rolling options decided in 8–12 weeks.