Conservation At English Heritage
Conservation is a cornerstone of everything we do at English Heritage. Our experts conserve and maintain over 400 historic buildings and monuments, their associated gardens and landscapes, and half a million artefacts.
Learn more about the work we do, including some of our recent on-site projects, research, and our practical guidance for conservation.
Conservation on the Road
2021 will see our Conservation Camper’s first journey. This specially equipped van will travel to many of our sites from April to October, providing a host of hands-on conservation workshops for all ages. These will provide an insight into how we look after our Heritage while doing something fun and creative.
Check back here soon to see where the van will visit!
Conserving our Collections
There are half a million artefacts in the English Heritage collections, ranging from Roman coins to paintings by Turner and Rembrandt. They are spread across England in over 100 historic houses, churches, museums and stores. The work of our conservators, conservation scientists and collections care assistants focuses on identifying, understanding and combatting the risks to these collections and interiors. Click on the links below to discover more about how we care for our collections.
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Paintings Conservation
Discover how dedicated fine art conservators protect the many paintings, frames and decorative schemes in our collection.
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Conservation Science
Find out how our conservation scientists protect collections from harmful environmental factors.
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Conservation Advice and Guidance
Download our expert conservation notes and technical papers for advice and guidance.
Research into clothes moths
From tapestries to period dresses, our furnishings and fabrics are hundreds of years old. But clothes moths can eat through them in several months. In 2017, our conservation scientists asked for your help.
We were very grateful to the hundreds of members of the public who got involved in contributing to this valuable research. The moth catch data returned by volunteers all over England was analysed by our conservation scientists, and gave rise to some fascinating - and surprising - results...
Read more about our clothes moth researchCaring for our sites
English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. To protect and maintain the sites in our care, we carry out vital conservation work.
Find out more about some of our current projects, which range from resolving the risks posed to historic graffiti at Richmond Castle, to conserving the world's first iron bridge.
Gardens and Landscape Conservation
English Heritage looks after many nationally important historic gardens and landscapes, such as Wrest Park and Osborne House.
Find out more about how we conserve our historic gardens and landscapes through the management of pests and pesticides, conserving rare and historic plants, and our historical and environmental research.
More about Gardens and Landscapes ConservationConservation in Action
A Heritage Adventure: Cannon Conservation on the Isles of Scilly
English Heritage’s intrepid conservators go to any lengths to protect the spaces and objects in our care. Follow Bethan Stanley, our Senior Collections Conservator, as she travels to the tiny St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly to work on some cannons in need of TLC.
Learn about the project in this short video, and explore more of our Conservation in Action videos below.
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Eltham Palace Map Room
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Rievaulx Abbey: Conservation Behind the Scenes
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Richmond Castle: Conserving the cell block graffiti
