St Mary in the Castle Heritage at Risk Register

St Mary in the Castle has been added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register for 2025.

Historic England, the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment, updates its Heritage at Risk Register each year to include important heritage buildings that are at risk of being lost.

The register gives communities a chance to understand which heritage assets are at greatest risk and highlight those that offer the best opportunities for positive development. It was first published in 1998, with three-quarters of the sites on the first national Buildings at Risk Register now removed from the register as no longer at risk.

The council recently announced an expression of interest looking for an organisation or group to work with on the future of St Mary in the Castle. Interested parties should visit the council’s website to find out more and register their interest by 12noon on Monday 15 December.

Victoria Conheady, deputy chief executive and director of place at Hastings Borough Council, said: “St Mary in the Castle is a key building in our town and we are committed to securing its future. We welcome working with Historic England to raise its profile, we are currently actively looking for a new partner to work with who shares our vision for this incredible building. We want to celebrate its heritage and create a cultural hub that residents can be proud of, and visitors want to come and enjoy.

“With Pelham Arcade already on the Heritage at Risk Register, we hope that adding St Mary in the Castle will allow us to access additional funding opportunities across the whole site. We have already started improvement work on the site, including arranging for repairs and redecoration to the arcade frontage, reinstating the bollards in front of the building and are working with Historic England on potential future work.”

For more information on the Expression of Interest.