Victorian Society identifies ten at-risk heritage buildings including art nouveau pavilion and concrete commercial structure requiring urgent conservation action.
The Victorian Society has released its annual list of the top ten endangered buildings in England and Wales for 2025, launched today by the organisation’s president Griff Rhys Jones.
The selection comprises Victorian and Edwardian structures facing various threats, including two Grade II* and eight Grade II listed buildings.
The endangered buildings encompass diverse architectural styles and purposes, ranging from an art nouveau pavilion where Agatha Christie was engaged to a folly-like water tower in a walled garden that once supplied spring water to a country house.
The list also features a rare medicinal bathing spa in a steel town, a romantic country house connected to the early atomic age, and a pioneering concrete commercial building considered ahead of its time.
The buildings identified are:
- Bosworth Park Water Tower, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire
- Torquay Pavilion, Devon
- Birley Spa, Hackenthorpe, Sheffield
- 33-39 St James Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk
- Former Marine Hotel, Penarth, Glamorgan
- Former Methodist Central Hall, Corporation Street, Birmingham
- Gibson Street Baths, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Aldermaston Court, Berkshire
- Edgerton Cemetery Chapel, Huddersfield
- Gwalia, West Derby, Liverpool
Griff Rhys Jones commented on the selection: “These are not top of the pops nor is there a number one. These are all toppermost buildings that demonstrate the range of imagination and commitment that Victorian and Edwardian architects, builders and designers brought to their work.
Bosworth Park Water Tower in Leicestershire is among the heritage buildings added to the list. The Grade II listed tower, designed by Thomas Garner around 1885, originally supplied Bosworth Hall with spring water. Now part of a hotel estate, the walled garden complex remains unused, says the organisation, with years of disuse and theft causing deterioration.
Regarding Bosworth Park Water Tower specifically, Griff Rhys Jones said: “Striking and delightful, and deservedly listed, this little wonder is a gem. Surely the owners should recognise the lovely tower as an adornment to their property, just as the original owners did when they built it. Please secure the fabric quickly, and make new plans to re-use this graceful monument again.”
