Message from English Heritage

English Heritage

Dear Member, 
I am writing to you with some important news. 
You may have seen in the media the proposal that the part of English Heritage which runs the 
National Heritage Collection to which, as a member, you enjoy access is to be established as a charity. 
We are delighted with this news as it is a proposal that we have been shaping for some time and 
now with the support of the government this aspiration will become a reality. 
Our current legal status allows us to receive charitable support although we remain a non-departmental public body receiving 
an annual grant from the government via the Department for Culture Media and Sport.This government grant funds our 
statutory role as the government’s advisor on the historic built environment, our role in the planning process and our grant 
giving and subsidises the costs of conserving and maintaining the over 400 historic properties in our care. In recent years 
however our grant has reduced and we have come to rely increasingly on what we are able to generate from opening the 
historic properties. 
Due to the support of people like you, commercial income has grown from £29m to £53m and our membership has doubled 
to over a million. We have also been able through our fundraising activities to invest in improving our properties in terms of 
new exhibitions and better visitor services. We have however a very signiicant backlog of conservation work which it has not 
been possible to address through earned income. The government has now agreed to provide £80m to address this backlog 
which means that free of such a huge liability we will be able to fund the operation of the properties from the money we earn. 
Maximising this income will be easier if we operate as a charity, free of the constraints we operate under as part of 
government and with many more opportunities for philanthropic and volunteer support. Our work will of course continue 
to be informed by our values of quality, authenticity, imagination, responsibility and enjoyment. Historic integrity will continue 
to be the bedrock of all that we do. Ownership of the properties will not change-they will remain in the care of the nation, 
managed under a license by the new charity which will be called English Heritage.That part of the organisation which looks 
after our wide role in the historic environment will continue as part of government under a new name. 
This change will have no effect on your membership. You will continue to be able to enjoy free, unlimited access to all 
our sites along with all the other beneits that membership provides. Indeed, your engagement and involvement with 
our work has never been more important as we plan for this new venture. 
These changes will take effect before the end of March 2015. 
We welcome your view on this change. If you would like to comment, please email us at: 
memberfeedback@english-heritage.org.uk, telephone: 0870 3331181 or write to us at: 
Membership Department, English Heritage, PO Box 570, Swindon SN2 2YR 
Thank you for your continued support. 
Yours sincerely 
Simon Thurley, 
Chief Executive, 
June 2013