English Heritage plans up to 200 redundancies and winter closures of some sites
English Heritage plans up to 200 redundancies and winter closures of some sites
Share:
Exclusive: At least 7% of workforce could be affected with curators targeted as part of charity’s restructuring. Staff at English Heritage have been shocked to discover that the cash-strapped organisation is planning up to 200 redundancies and the winter closure of various castles, abbeys and other historic sites in its care.
At least 7% of the workforce could be affected, with curators being particularly targeted, it is believed. Under the cuts, 22 sites will become “hidden gems”, opening only on specific and limited days. They include properties as significant as Ranger’s House in Greenwich, London, a Georgian villa with an important art collection, where part of Netflix’s popular television series Bridgerton was filmed.
A further 21 sites will be closed for winter. They include Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent, begun in about AD100 and among the most outstanding examples in Britain; Totnes Castle in Devon, built 900 years ago during the Norman conquest, almost certainly by one of William the Conqueror’s commanders; and Furness Abbey in Cumbria, once the largest monastery in north-west England, founded in the 12th century.
“This is seriously worrying,” one insider said. There are also fears for the demise of irreplaceable experience as experts could be made redundant or have some of their responsibilities handed over to a new layer of managers. One insider said staff were dismayed and that a colleague was in tears after last week’s meeting about the organisation’s “reshaping”. “All of our jobs are basically at risk. They won’t tell us an exact number, but it’s affecting virtually every department. Sacking so many people is unbelievable.”.
