English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings.

[3] It was created to combine the roles of existing bodies that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage protection.

[4][3][5] The British government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to help establish it as an independent trust, although the historic properties remain in the ownership of the state.

[7] The central government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection for different types of assets, introducing listing for buildings after the Second World War, and for conservation areas in the 1960s.

Those, together with other nationally important external acquisitions, meant that English Heritage was one of the largest publicly accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are available online, including more than 426,000 images.

In 2010–11, it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions[13] and over 110,000 people visited NMR exhibitions held around the country in 2009–10.

[18][19][20] The change occurred on 1 April 2015 with the statutory planning and heritage protection functions remaining an independent, non-departmental public body, rebranded as Historic England.

[21] English Heritage is the guardian of over 400 sites and monuments, the most famous of which include Stonehenge, Osborne, Iron Bridge and Dover Castle.

Whilst many have an entry charge, more than 250 properties are free to enter[22] including Maiden Castle, Dorset and St Catherine's Oratory.

The sites are part of the portfolio of over 880 historical places across the UK amassed by the British Government between the 1880s and the 1970s to form the National Collection of built and archaeological heritage.

Unlike the National Trust, English Heritage holds few furnished properties, although Charles Darwin's home at Down, Kent (where he wrote On the Origin of Species) and Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire are major exceptions to this.

[23] Recent acquisitions include Harmondsworth Barn in west London, close to Heathrow airport, in late 2011 and Carrawburgh Roman Fort in January 2020.

To ease the transition, the government has supplied a total of £80 million in yearly subsidies until 2023 to cover the backlog of maintenance to the sites in English Heritage's care.

[30] It invites various groups and members of the public to give views on specific issues, most notably in recent years about the Stonehenge road tunnel project proposals.

[36] Other trustees are Sarah Staniforth, Vicky Barnsley, Kay Boycott, Liz Bromley, Tony Cates, Tanvi Gokhale, Sir Laurie Magnus, Kunle Olulode, Sue Wilkinson and William Whyte.

On 18 January 2002, at Truro Crown Court, after the prosecution successfully applied for a Public Immunity Certificate to suppress defence evidence (these are normally issued in cases involving national security), three members of the group agreed to return the signs and pay £4,500 in compensation to English Heritage and to be bound over to keep the peace.

[43] The then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was called upon to give cash to a new autonomous body in Cornwall by "top slicing" English Heritage's budget.

[44] In 2006, the Secretary of State at the DCMS issued a certificate of exemption from listing for Fortress House, the then English Heritage headquarters.

[48] By amplifying their voices, the now permanent youth engagement programme continues to put young people's ideas and stories at the heart of English Heritage, engendering feelings of inclusion and relevance via increased representation and creative opportunities for involvement.

[49] Shout Out Loud established a successful consortium of partners between 2018 and 2022 including Photoworks,[50] the Council for British Archaeology,[51] National Youth Theatre[52] and Sound Connections.

[68] Young People are able to get involved with the ongoing youth engagement programme via online mass participation projects, creative residency or participation opportunities (often shared on the dedicated Instagram channel @eh_shoutoutloud), via projects as part of a youth group,[69] or by joining one of the ongoing schemes 'Young Associates' (ages 16–25, no application necessary, join at any time)[70] or Young Producers (ages 18–25, applications open once a year).