Sixteen London Buildings Added to Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, Including a Victorian Materials Lab

Historic England published its Heritage at Risk Register 2026 on 5 November, adding 16 London buildings and bringing the capital's total to 596 at-risk sites. Among the new entries is Kirkaldy's Testing Works at 99 Southwark Street — a Grade II*-listed Victorian structure built in the 1870s as the world's first purpose-built commercial materials-testing laboratory. The building is now suffering from extensive damp and water ingress. Other new additions include the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives and House of Reeves, a historic Croydon furniture shop. Despite the new listings, 24 London sites were removed after successful restoration, including a Georgian terraced house in Tottenham that has been transformed into artists' studios run by Lee Alexander McQueen's Sarabande Foundation, and a historic grotto at Wanstead Park. Historic England allocated £1.57 million in grants across London during 2025–26 to support repairs at 12 sites. Nationally across England, 197 sites were newly added and 85 removed.