SAVE Britain's Heritage

20/06/2026

🙏 Thanks to everyone who came to our event on Belonging in Built Spaces: Reimagining Buildings for Community this week.

And particular thanks to our brilliant speakers:
Hannah Sloggett co-founder of Nudge Community Builders, talking about multiple buildings on Plymouth's former nightlife hub Union Street💃

🏇Su Stringfellow, co-founder of Harrison Stringfellow Architects Ltd. in Liverpool, talking about: a project that turned a watchman’s shelter on the docks into a tiny museum; a riding school in an abandoned theatre; and a social enterprise in a walled garden.

Sarah Robinson, associate director of The King's Foundation, talking about Fleetwood Hospital, a huge abandoned building in the Lancashire town that everyone had a memory of🏥

✨ It was inspiring to hear from people doing the hard graft of rescuing and breathing new life into derelict buildings – and at the same time transforming communities.

18/06/2026

🏛️✨Exciting news: the London Museum is set to open its doors on 28 November at its new home, the iconic Smithfield General Market.

We’ve long believed these historic buildings have the power to become extraordinary public spaces. Stepping inside the building after its decade-long restoration, will be a chance to experience that first-hand. There's no better venue than this London landmark for the museum’s collection that spans 450,000 years and contains over seven million objects. 🔍🕰️

Did you know SAVE fought and won two public inquiries to save the market from being redeveloped into offices, first in 2007 and then again in 2014, alongside The Victorian Society, when our Lady Gaga lookalikes protest went viral, making global headlines. 📰

We can’t wait for the doors to open to explore the collection, from exquisite Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery to the (less exquisite) remains of the Whitechapel fatberg. 👀

📸London Museum

16/06/2026

‼️Just in: Another loss to Glasgow’s heritage

The B-listed, Hillhead Baptist Church is set to be flattened. Designed by architect Thomas Lennox Watson in 1883, church features include prominent Greek columns, casement windows and a triple-doorway front access 🏗️

📝SAVE has formally objected twice to demolition plans.

At a hearing today councillors were evenly split, with 3 votes in favour of demolition (SNP) and 3 against (Labour) but the Chair (SNP) used their casting vote to back developer Wemyss Properties.

⛪Paul Sweeney MSP attended the hearing with a local developer who had hoped to take the building on, but despite making their case to save the church, demolition was ultimately approved. Sweeney said that a “fantastic piece of the city’s heritage is gone”, but that "we fight on".

📸Images: M J Richardson, Wemyss Properties

16/06/2026

🚨Breaking news: Norwich Debenhams saved!

In March, SAVE highlighted concerns over highly controversial plans to bulldoze a structurally sound 1950s department store that sits within a conservation area.

🚧Councillors approved demolition of the former Debenhams in Norwich city centre, just moments after they had voted to save it.

🏗️Demolition plans have now been abandoned, with the developer citing that though rising costs made demolition unviable, they “have found a good use for the building.”

The six-storey building will be repurposed as a children's adventure centre operated by Fun Parx, who said the building's architectural character offers the opportunity to create a unique space.

♻️In our objection to the scheme, SAVE highlighted that demolition runs counter to the council’s own commitment to making Norwich net zero by 2045, as reusing the building does not require carbon-intensive new construction. The University of East Anglia also rejected the plans, citing "no demand” for the proposed student housing. Local group, The Norwich Society had "major concerns" about the replacement building.

Developer says original student housing scheme is no longer viable

16/06/2026

⚽🌎One week into World Cup 2026!

Football’s global popularity reflects an industrial and architectural history rooted in Britain. The game’s early expansion was often the result of British railway, shipyard and factory workers🚂⚓

Today, the architecture of British football stadia remains some of the most distinctive large-scale public buildings in the country 🏟️

🏛️Highbury, Arsenal's former ground, stands as one of the best examples of stadium reuse, transformed into housing while retaining its Art Deco structure.

🪨In Scotland, the stand at Gala Fairydean Rovers is a Category A listed example of sculptural brutalism, still in active use and widely regarded as one of the most distinctive small stadium structures in the UK

🧱Elsewhere in Glasgow, Rangers FC's Bill Struth Main Stand by Archibald Leitch remains a listed landmark, defined by its neoclassical brick arches and historic detailing.

⚠️ At St James’ Park, Newcastle United, the East Stand has been identified by Twentieth Century Society as “at risk”, noted for its brutalist character and described as a striking urban set piece.

📸Images: Jonathan Deamer, Tom Parnell, Andrew Curtis, Steve Daniels

15/06/2026

🌟 Our first weekend of historical walking tours in was a real triumph, thank you so much to Jason Burke , Colin Shaw, Hearth Historic Buildings Trust, James Cromey, GreatPlace North Belfast and Dr Miller from Ulster Architectural Heritage for providing unique access and local expertise.

📍Highlight’s from the weekend include Riddel’s Warehouse, one of Belfast’s most remarkable industrial survivors. Built in 1867, the building conceals an extraordinary five-storey atrium of cast-iron columns, timber galleries and a glass-roofed courtyard behind its colourful façade

🏛️Old Museum Building (built in 1830), the city’s first museum and now HHBT+ UAHS offices.

🤝At Clifton House, the former poorhouse built in 1774 and home of the Belfast Charitable Society, we explored its long association with civic philanthropy and figures such as Mary Ann McCracken and Edward Benn.

🪦We visited Clifton Street Cemetery, one of Belfast’s most important but now often overlooked burial grounds, where the graves of many of the city’s leading figures reveal powerful stories from its past, including Henry Joy McCracken (a key leader of the 1798 Rebellion).

📸Images: SAVE

14/06/2026

🏡Sarah Robinson from The King's Foundation joins the panel for our event. She'll be discussing their project to transform a disused NHS hospital into a thriving 22,000-square-foot community hub in Lancashire.

Join the conversation with community organisers, architects, heritage organisations and funders from across the country to explore how our built environment can foster a sense of belonging.

📍 Farringdon, London
📅 17 June
🎟️ Tickets: https://bit.ly/3QycWAv

14/06/2026

📺Who’s been watching SAVE friend Kevin McCloud’s new series Listed Britain?

What’s your favourite building so far in the series? 🏛️✨
We’re big fans of the thousand-year-old grade I Malvern Priory (ep. 3), particularly the history of heritage campaigning surrounding the building.

As Kevin explained: “In 1541, 100 local people pledged a big part of their income to keep Malvern standing and ever since people have fought, championed, raised money and written applications to lottery funding bodies. Whatever it takes. That’s what conservation looks like, not one big heroic act but hundreds of tiny ones.”💪

We love the way he’s leading us on a tour of the country and through time, from the ancient Malvern Priory to the elegant modernist Penguin Pool at London Zoo 🐧

Excited to see which remarkable buildings and hidden stories will feature in the next episode.

📸1. Channel 4
📸2. Wikimedia Commons

13/06/2026

Did The King take inspiration from SAVE's Grimsby itinerary? 🤔

Not long after our recent tour, His Majesty visited the Horizon Youth Zone - of the highlights of our trip and one of Grimsby's most impressive heritage success stories 🏛️

Once a fire-damaged industrial building, now a bustling youth centre serving thousands of young people , proving historic buildings can shape a town’s future ⚽🎶

Great to see this remarkable success story getting the royal seal of approval 👑

📸Gary Davies Photography

12/06/2026

Sad news about the iconic artist David Hockney who died today aged 88.

Zoe Silver, co-director of Salts Mill, one of SAVE’s most significant campaigns of the 1980s, and home to the largest collection of Hockney’s work, remembered the painter as “a generous soul who loved joy.”

Hockney didn’t just draw the crowds to Salts Mill with his art, he drew the restaurant logo too! His mischievous dachshund, the 'Diner Dog' has been loved by generations of visitors to Salts Mill and customers of Salts Diner.

Few artists have left such a visible mark on a building’s revival: his work helped turn a derelict mill into a cultural attraction and of Britain’s great regeneration success stories.

📸 Connaissance des Arts.
📸 Tim Green