Hastings Castle and Dickens chalet added to heritage risk register
Hastings Castle and Charles Dickens’ writing chalet have joined Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. The annual update adds 197 places and removes 85 after repairs or other solutions. Coastal erosion threatens the castle ruins, while the novelist’s wooden retreat in Rochester has become too fragile to admit visitors. The register now contains 4,991 entries.
Arts··Morning
197 places added to the risk register
Historic England, the public body responsible for protecting England’s historic environment, has added Hastings Castle and Charles Dickens’ writing chalet to its Heritage at Risk Register. The annual update places 197 more historic sites on the list and removes 85 where repairs or other solutions have addressed the danger. There are now 4,991 entries of national importance, including buildings, parks, battlefields and shipwrecks threatened by deterioration, neglect or unsuitable development.[1], [2]
A fragile retreat and exposed castle ruins
Dickens received the miniature Swiss-style chalet as a Christmas present in 1864. It arrived in 94 pieces and a theatre carpenter assembled it. Installed beyond the garden at Gad’s Hill, the novelist’s home near Rochester in Kent, it was reached through a tunnel beneath the road. During the 1960s, it moved to Eastgate House’s garden in Rochester. The wooden retreat is now too fragile for public access.[1]
The ruins of Hastings Castle stand in an exposed coastal position in southern England. Storms and erosion have left parts vulnerable, and urgent work has already been undertaken to stabilise them. Another new entry, Hall’s Croft in Stratford-upon-Avon, was the home of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna. The timber-framed building dates from 1613. It was already closed for conservation when a reversing vehicle damaged its front in October 2025. Playwright Ken Ludwig has contributed one million pounds, with further fundraising still needed. William the Conqueror commissioned the castle after the Norman invasion of 1066.[1], [2]
Repairs bring 85 sites off the list
Places removed include Newlyn Harbour and Edward Jenner’s garden hut. Two Georgian houses in east London, dating from around 1715, have also been restored with Tottenham Hotspur’s involvement and help from the Lottery Heritage Fund. The Grade II* listed buildings now hold artists’ studios, exhibition rooms and a cafe. Sarabande Foundation, founded by fashion designer Alexander McQueen, runs the creative spaces. Historic England’s joint leaders, Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire, emphasised renewed practical use as a way to sustain the protection of endangered places.[1]
