Battlefields, prehistoric burial mounds and ancient abbeys have all stood the passing of time and found a place in the hearts of nearby communities as well as visitors from across the world.

But a stark warning was issued today that many of these historic sites are in danger of being lost forever after they have endured years of neglect.

English Heritage is conducting the most comprehensive study ever undertaken into the state of tens of thousands of the nation's historic treasures, ranging from Bronze Age mounds to lush parkland and even a Cold War nuclear bunker in York.

The report has concluded that more than 50 per cent of the scheduled ancient monuments in the region are at risk of damage and decay and urgent action is needed to prevent the priceless heritage being lost.

The Buildings at Risk Register, which was launched by English Heritage in 1998, has now been extended to cover a far wider range of sites in the hope that they will be preserved for future generations.

The new Heritage at Risk scheme means that for the first time scheduled monuments will also be included, along with registered historic parks, gardens and landscapes, battlefields and protected wreck sites off the coast.

In the next few years, listed places of worship, conservation areas, and Grade II buildings will also be included on to the newly expanded register.

English Heritage's regional director for planning and development Maddy Jago said: "Heritage at Risk is a work in progress, but already it is giving us an unprecedented window into the state of the region's historic environment.

"Like the Buildings at Risk register, this is not a name-and-shame exercise, but a tool to understand threats and prioritise action.

"Excellent work is being done to protect our heritage, but the study raises some serious causes for concern.

"We are particularly anxious about the condition of scheduled ancient monuments.

"When damaged or lost, such sites, often dating back thousands of years, cannot be replaced. We believe that no monument which is legally protected in the public interest should be at high risk.

"Greater co-operation is needed between owners, government and organisations charged with caring for the environment to halt the decay."

Ms Jago added: "The Government's recent commitment to simplify heritage protection legislation is also a step in the right direction."

The Buildings at Risk Register has transformed the approach to conserving and rescuing Grade I and II* listed buildings, with particular success throughout Yorkshire.

More than half of the Buildings at Risk entries listed on the 1999 register in Yorkshire and the Humber have been removed – a higher proportion than any other region in England.

It is now hoped that this success can now be transposed
into saving a far wider range of historic sites with the introduction of the Heritage at Risk strategy.

East Yorkshire has the highest proportion of high risk scheduled monuments in the region, with 63 per cent of a total of 345 sites deemed to be in the greatest danger.

One of the biggest threats to locations has been the need for intensive farming, and in East Yorkshire three-quarters of those sites deemed at risk are on cultivated land.

A total of 26 per cent of the region's scheduled monuments are at risk from agricultural practices, including damage done by ploughing,
drainage and erosion caused by stock.

Other threats include forestry and housing developments.

North Yorkshire has the highest number of scheduled monuments - a total of 1,740 of which 45 per cent are at high or medium risk.

Yorkshire and the Humber has 122 Grade I and Grade II* buildings at risk – these sites represent the region's most important historic buildings deemed at risk of decay.

The total is one down on last year, with four new entries being added and five removed after successful repairs.


Plans to halt decay of 16th century hall

One of the scheduled ancient monuments at risk is Thorpe Salvin Old Hall, near Rotherham.

The Grade II* hall in the village of Thorpe Salvin has a gatehouse and imposing three-storey south facade, part of a 16th century mansion.

English Heritage is now working with owner Eric Tracey and his family who are keen to halt the decay, and is also partly funding a £15,000 condition survey. The building's timber and masonry are decaying.


Earthworks at risk from the plough

Almost three-quarters of the Yorkshire region's scheduled monuments are earthworks, mostly prehistoric and medieval.

The sites include Huggate Dyke in the Yorkshire Wolds, a bank and ditch that used to run for many miles across the landscape and is an example of the many earthworks that once dominated the area's chalklands.

The dykes were built by tribal communities that occupied the area 3,000 years ago, and the earthworks, along with other prehistoric monuments like burial mounds, were powerful territorial markers.

At Wold House Farm, Huggate, farmer Alec Dale has entered into a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme with Natural England, which includes sensitive management to protect a well-preserved 650ft section of Huggate Dyke.

Intensive agricultural practices such as ploughing have damaged or destroyed many sections of earthworks on the Wolds.


Restoration hope for crumbling mansion garden

A rambling Victorian mansion near Keighley boasts one of Yorkshire's finest examples of an arts and crafts garden.

Whinburn was laid out in the 1920s to the plan of influential landscape architect TH Mawson.

However, the Grade II garden has become badly overgrown with many of its features crumbling, causing English Heritage to place it at high risk on its register.

Now new owner James Sheldon plans to give the garden a new lease of life.

He is working with English Heritage to investigate
ways of sensitively restoring it.


New lease of life for medieval gatehouse

There is light at the end of the tunnel for the spectacular 15th century Bolton Percy Gatehouse, near York, which has long been deemed under threat.

Built in 1467 by Thomas Pearson, a yeoman's son, the Grade II* gatehouse is a two-storied timber-framed building. It was partly repaired in 1972 but the south-west end has collapsed.

Owned by the Bolton Percy Gatehouse Trust, a provisional agreement has been struck to lease the property to the Vivat Trust, which plans to restore it and let it as a holiday cottage.

The aim is to preserve the building's ancient fabric as well as retain public access.

Read the next pages for the full buildings at risk list for Yorkshire>>