Here’s to another historic year
Happy New Year – and welcome to 2026. As we look ahead, we want to thank you for everything you helped achieve over the past 12 months. Your membership has been vital in helping conserve, protect and care for some of England’s most significant historic sites. And you’ve a lot to look forward to this year too. We’ve been listening to our members and have new ways for you to make more of your membership in the coming months. Watch this space.
Thank you for your support in 2025
Our Membership & Commercial Director, Ruth Blayze, wishes you Happy
New Year from one of her favourite English Heritage sites – Battle Abbey.
She previews a busy year ahead, including the 960th anniversary of the
Battle of Hastings, and explains how your support means more now than
ever before.
In 2025 the sites members visited most were Wrest Park, Osborne and Dover Castle
In 2025 we hosted 1,817,376 member visits
In 2025 we hosted 186,563 schoolchildren
In 2025 we sold 44,623 bottles of mead
In 2025 we sold 211,159 scones
You're keeping heritage alive
Your membership helps fund conservation projects all over England. Here are two of our favourites from 2025.
Explore more conservation work-
Conserving Marble Arch
With your support, the arch underwent its most important conservation project in over 50 years. For months, a team of experts carefully cleaned the elegant Ravaccione marble that gives the famous landmark its name. The team also helped prevent any future water damage to the roof and repaired all original lanterns – preserving the site’s status for all to enjoy.
-
Protecting Rufford Abbey
You helped us secure the future of Rufford Abbey thanks to a year-long, sustainable conservation project. In a labour of love, we carried out major repairs to the monastery’s historic stonework and made improvements to the site’s drainage – protecting the abbey from future damage and making it easier to maintain for generations to come.
You’re making more memories
Your support has helped bring our sites to life in new ways, with events for even more people to take part in and enjoy.
-
Teaming with Taskmaster
Last summer, you helped us team up with Taskmaster to make family days out to our sites even more memorable. We hosted on-site Taskmaster challenges at 17 of our historic sites around England, encouraging teamwork, creative thinking and fun for the whole family. Relive the fun and games with our highlights video.
-
Streaming the solstice
In June, you also helped us bring the Stonehenge summer solstice to even more people. As well as the 25,000 who attended this year’s event in person, we live-streamed the event, getting more than 400,000 views around the world. A truly momentous occasion. Look back on last year's event with the replay of the livestream of the sunrise.
Your Places update
Free to enter doesn’t mean free to maintain. So, in September, we asked the public for their help preserving our free-to-enter sites around the country. So far, we’ve raised more than £90,000 to help protect these irreplaceable landmarks – which is fantastic news.
Support the Your Places AppealOne thousand blue plaques
You helped us add six new blue plaques in London, passing the 1,000 mark as we did it. This year, we honoured the following historic figures in iconic fashion.
- Marc Bolan (musician)
- Audrey Hepburn (actress)
- Alicia Markova (ballerina)
- Barbara Pym (novelist)
- Graham Sutherland, (artist)
- Una Marson (poet)
Your membership helps make it possible
It’s been an incredible year, and there’s even more for you to look forward to in 2026. Expect extra events and exclusive new member promotions coming soon.
Thank you again for being an English Heritage member. We’re so proud to do this work with you by our side. It’s your support that makes it possible.