Search on for treasured buildings at risk

The Victorian Society highlighted the plight of St Andrew's Church in Temple Grafton in 2023

People are being asked to highlight heritage buildings in their communities that are at risk of being lost.

The Victorian Society is asking the public to nominate threatened Victorian and Edwardian buildings and structures for its 2026 list by 5 January.

The annual campaign highlights dilapidated and neglected buildings in England and Wales "that might otherwise lie forgotten" and can alter their fate for the better, the charity said.

Chances Glassworks in Smethwick, West Midlands, which was added to the list for the second time in 2024, is among the positive stories and is moving forward with projects after receiving an initial £250,000 funding, it added.

The preservation charity said the decaying glassworks was "one of the Black Country's most significant historic sites".

Once the world's largest glass maker, in its prime it employed 3,500 people and helped create about 2,300 lighthouses across the world.

Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England will help it move forwards with a £25m regeneration project.

At its peak, the Chance Brothers factory in Smethwick employed 3,500 people before closing in 1981

Meanwhile, St Andrew's Church in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire, which featured among the society's top 10 endangered buildings in 2023, is still trying to raise money for urgent repairs.

A spokesperson for the church told the BBC it was hoping to appoint a permanent vicar and then start a new fundraising effort.

"Sadly we also have no heating in the church so services in the colder months are limited. We have raised just over £9,200 - a long way off our target," they said.

The Birmingham Methodist Central Hall which was placed on its most endangered list in May, remains on the market "but still languishing with growing issues about the building", a spokesperson for the Victorian Society said.

The listed hall had a second life as a music venue, hosting famous acts including David Bowie and Blur before it closed in 2017.

Elsewhere, Burlsem Indoor Street Market, which was highlighted on the Victorian Society's list in 2021, was given Grade II listed status two years later, 20 years after closing.

Efforts to save it continue, and in August it was awarded £1m from Historic England, towards urgent roof repairs.

"These works are the essential first step in bringing this historic landmark back into use," Historic England said.

St Andrew's Church in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire, hopes to raise £250,000 for urgent repair work

The Victorian Society launched its appeal last month to identify sites "in desperate need of help".

Its president Griff Rhys Jones said endangered buildings chosen for the list, which will be announced later in 2026, gain attention and media coverage which leads to new Victorian Society members and conservation results.

"But we rely on members of the public to be watchdogs and to have sharp eyes and ears out across the country to find these important targets," he said.

Rhys Jones added heritage promoted growth and "recycling buildings is the green option".

But he claimed a "new mythology" gaining traction was that heritage and old buildings were holding up growth.

"Recently, this government has been turning down requests from Historic England and the Vic Soc for new listings. More in the last eight months than in the last eight years," he said.

In response the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "We are absolutely committed to protecting and championing our national heritage.

"That's why in the last year alone we have provided more than £50m to protect heritage buildings, including through our Heritage at Risk Capital Fund which has been key to saving 37 endangered buildings across the country."