When most people are thinking of retirement, at 60 years of age, Sir Neil Cossons has taken on the most important job in the heritage world, as chairman of English Heritage. Sir Neil has spent his whole professional life championing the past and bringing it alive, most recently at the Science Museum. With a reputation for rescuing projects from the dead hand of the Civil Service, he virtually reinvented the Science Museum and now he faces the task of breathing new life into 400 of our oldest buildings and monuments together with all the other responsibilities of English Heritage.

Early Interests
The origins of his enthusiasm for industrial history go back to childhood when his father, a Nottinghamshire headmaster and expert on the history of turnpike roads, also had an unusual penchant for summer holidays: progressive grand tours of industrial England. These included the overhead railway along the waterfront at Liverpool, the great steel-works at Sheffield, Grimsby fish dock and crossing the Humber by paddle steamer to Hull, all set to inspire the young Neil.

From this background and following a discussion with the Director of Leicester Museum, Sir Neil studied historical geography at university before returning to Leicester as a graduate trainee. From there he went to the Great Western Railway Museum at Swindon, in 1964, thence to Bristol Museum to set up a new technology department and at the tender age of 29 was appointed deputy director of the most prestigious regional museum in Liverpool. The museum had suffered extensive bomb damage during the war, was being rebuilt and had the advantage of Jesse Hartley’s spectacular Albert Dock.

Director of Ironbridge Museum
On the move again in 1971 he was appointed first director of the newly-formed Ironbridge Museum Trust, which, under his guidance for 13 years, grew to be one of the most acclaimed independent museums with 250,000 visitors per annum. As well as saving the first Iron Bridge (1779) from collapse he oversaw the opening of Abraham Darby’s furnace, the great warehouse, Blists Hill Open Air Museum, the Coalport China Museum and Jackfield Tileworks.

Moving again in 1983 this time to Greenwich Maritime Museum, he is reputed to have replied when asked how long he would stay, that the only reason he would move was for the job of Director of the Science Museum. Sure enough it did in 1986, and Sir Neil moved again, remain-ing in post there for 14 years until last summer, one year longer than any previous director, presiding over the opening of the new Wellcome wing before joining English Heritage in June.

Takes over as director of English Heritage
Sir Neil takes over an organisation that is leaner and more efficient, strengthened by the takeover of the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments with its huge archives and a new regional structure in place making officers much closer to buildings and owners. Earnings from properties open to the public are up, but grant-in-aid is down in real terms, with just £40 million available to support the whole range of historic buildings.

One of his first tasks was to chair the committee carrying out a strategic review of Heritage for the Government and the Department of Culture, Media and Sports.

He has stated his intent to show that heritage is no minority interest but touches everyone in the country, that heritage legislation should be modernised to meet current needs and that the status of England’s World Heritage sites should be improved and attract additional funding.

He is convinced that the present Government will support the heritage if they are shown there is an investment return. This is identified as most likely in conservation-led regeneration such as the recycling of old industrial buildings, already proved successful in a number of urban areas such as Covent Garden, Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and Manchester’s Castlefields. Likewise it is essential to restore the population in town centres, thereby improving viability of all services.

Improving Training
Encouragingly for COTAC, improved training is high on his agenda. He believes that the whole perception of heritage is about to be transformed by the Web, with the Images of England project a current case in point, for which the Royal Photographic Society is producing an image of every listed building in the country.

Some of the toughest challenges facing the new chairman lie with the great industrial buildings he has so long championed. The other steady changes will come with the castles and abbeys in English Heritage’s care, too many of which he believes are ‘over manicured’.

His proven skill at unlocking choked up organisations – and tuning them so that they work – makes him a natural choice for English Heritage, but he is no Government yes-man. The word ‘elitist’ is not for him, indeed he describes it as offensive. Nationalism is a word which can be seen as politically incorrect but is, he feels, an unavoidably important issue for a guardian of national treasures.

Buildings of the Industrial Revolution
Coming from his background it is natural that he has particular concern for workings of the industrial revolution. Maintenance depots, canals and the ‘dark satanic mills’, are the landmarks that he fears are currently most under threat, disregarded for so long with the common-place urban and industrial landscape such as urban terraces and rows of workers’ cottages.

Sir Neil may not be able to do everything he wants but his new position means he can influence the importance given to our industrial past. There are lots of pre-medieval ruins in the portfolio, but little that’s industrial so he feels that there is a need to move forward into the British centuries now and not lose this influence since its dominance as a fact of history, places an obligation on us to look after what’s left and not be ashamed of it.

In his speech to the Historic Houses Association last November Sir Neil noted that while the threats to the historic environment remain great, we have never had a better opportunity to work together in the heritage sector to move forward from a position where we can only react to threats, to one where we can take control and drive the agenda. He noted the crucial importance of partnership particularly with private owners as they are responsible for two-thirds of the historic environment and generally carry out those responsibilities without significant assistance from the State and to a good standard.

The long history of heritage preservation in this country is one of enlightened partnership between government, charitable and private owners. We can see from the example of other countries, the uniformity and greyness historic houses take on where they are managed unimaginatively by a single public owner. The variety and wealth of historic properties in England is well described in the recently published Everyman Guide to England and Wales, which was jointly developed by English Heritage, the National Trust and the HHA.

'Power of Place'
In January last year Chris Smith and John Prescott asked English Heritage to coordinate a strategic review of policies relating to the historic environment and this is now published as the report ‘Power of Place’. It seeks to represent the views of the whole of the heritage sector and beyond, including developers and others using the historic environment, as well as owners and those concerned with its management. It was led by a Steering Group, chaired by Sir Neil and has included a wide membership including the president of the HHA. It has five specialist working groups involving nearly 200 people. Their work included mounting widespread public and professional consultation, which attracted comments and proposals from over 600 groups and individuals.

The report is likely to have a major impact both on the heritage sector and on the many layers of government to whom it is addressed and government response is currently awaited in March. Indeed the process of compiling the report encouraged greater co-operation and understanding between the individuals and groups involved and a very significant degree of consensus about what is important and what should be done was reached.

The historic environment represents an enormous investment in time and resources whose reuse must contribute to sustainable development. Above all the historic environment is important because people care about it, value its beauty, depth and diversity. The love people feel for the historic environment is not a stand against change but they want to see change managed in a way, which pays proper respect to its qualities and protects what they value.

In their evidence to the review, SAVE Britain’s Heritage said, ‘The single greatest challenge facing conservation is the lack of adequate maintenance.’ It is clear from the review that more needs to be done. Many of the expensive repairs that have to be carried out on historic buildings are the result of failures in routine maintenance. But, historically, this has often been dependent on the use of estate staff, who are no longer available.

Monument Watch
One possible model that might be developed here is that of the Monument Watch. This was first established in The Netherlands in 1973 and a pilot scheme has now been started in the UK. The aim is to prevent deterioration of historic buildings by helping their owners to keep them in good condition. A non-profit service, it offers regular inspection, first aid repair and a maintenance plan.

Teams of two trained maintenance workers visit historic properties once or twice a year to do basic chores such as clearing gutters and down pipes, fixing missing slates and tiles, replacing perished lead or zinc in valley gutters and inspecting roof voids for outbreaks of rot and woodworm.

In the longer term there is certainly a case for providing some government support for maintenance rather than repair of historic buildings. But until the present backlog of buildings at risk have been significantly reduced it will be difficult to justify transferring grant resources into this area.

The single most frequently raised issue in the consultation exercise of the heritage strategy was the present VAT rules, and the way in which they provide an incentive for people to alter and build anew, rather than maintain and repair. Sir Neil welcomed the change to VAT for repairs to Churches but saw this as a first step, no more.

Tourism
The historic environment is one of the principal resources of the UK tourism industry. It is estimated that domestic and overseas tourists to England generate £3 billion a year for the Treasury. Reinvestment of just 2% of the existing tax revenue would allow English Heritage to treble its existing grant schemes, allowing it to clear the backlog of repairs needed to grade I and II* buildings at risk. In the long term, unless investment is made in these assets their value will decline, and so will the income from tourism. If the public pay for the conservation of the historic environment then they must be able to have access to it and encouragingly most grant recipients were complying with the public access conditions.

Education
The Internet provides a wonderful resource; but people need a structure of knowledge and education before they can use it. The HHA and its members have always had a strong interest in education; and Sir Neil stated that he was delighted that speaking to the Conference gave him the opportunity to launch a joint Historic Houses Association/English Heritage initiative originally proposed by the Association.

English Heritage has been involved in education for many years and the Education Department is widely recognised as the leading heritage educational authority in the UK with other heritage organisations, both at home and in other European countries, regularly seeking its advice. The regional presence was recently strengthened by appointing an educational officer in each region, as well as one at the National Monuments Record Office in Swindon and English Heritage have been a major influence in shaping and advising on the historic environment for the National Curriculum.

But it is only possible to do so much on one’s own; as in many other areas, progress must ultimately be by partnership, and Sir Neil confirmed the happy enthusiastic response to HHA’s proposals and the organisations agreed to look to see how they might work together to have a much greater impact on teachers, and through them their pupils and students.

Joint National Conference
The first outcome of this collaboration, which Sir Neil announced, is a joint national conference to be held in the late spring to discuss ways in which education programmes might be instituted in HHA houses. This conference will be followed, during the summer and autumn terms, by regional seminars set up by our English Heritage education staff. Although history teaching and learning, especially in primary schools, has been one of the great successes of the National Curriculum, this is not just talking about the study of history. The conference seminars will examine ways of encouraging teachers to make visits to HHA houses and estates for a variety of subjects, from maths to art, from science to citizenship.

Free Booklet
To support these seminars English Heritage Education will publish a free booklet for HHA members setting out a range of ideas for them to promote their houses, collections and landscapes to teachers.

But this was seen as only the start. This joint initiative should be developed in two other ways. One is to address the Government’s vision for a new interactive future for culture and the arts in the UK. ‘Culture On Line’ will use the latest digital technology to present and explain our culture and heritage as a key resource for schools and, indeed, everyone else.

The second development, which is longer term but which is being actively pursued now, is the establishment of professional education officers who would have a brief to promote and develop programmes and publications for privately owned houses and landscapes. Funding opportunities are being discussed with both the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Sir Neil completed his address stating that he knew that many challenges lie ahead but believed that, based on joint experiences in the past, both parties will be able to work together successfully to surmount them.