Save Britain's Heritage Buildings at Risk Register 2023: The 14 historic Yorkshire buildings added to the list that are in danger of being lost

The list shines a spotlight on historic buildings that have deteriorated or are empty or underused. Many of the neglected old houses, businesses and industrial sites are listed, meaning they cannot be demolished, but are suffering from neglect and uncertain futures.

Otley Mechanics Institute is one such protected building – it is Grade II-listed, but has been vacant since 2010 and there have been two ‘unsympathetic’ applications to convert it. It has been added to the register following the recent discovery of dry rot. Built in 1870, it was a night school where working people went to ‘better themselves’ by taking evening classes. Men studied science, mathematics and literacy, while women learned art, dressmaking and embroidery. As compulsory education expanded during the 20th century, its original function was superseded by its use as an entertainment venue for theatre and dances. It was given to the local council in the 1950s.

In Hull, there are several new entries that declined with the end of deep-sea trawling. The eastern part of St Andrew’s Dock remains derelict, and the Hydraulic Tower and Pump House has been added to the list as it is now long disused, heavily vandalised and in poor condition. The neighbouring 1940s-era Lord Line Building, once the offices of a major fishing fleet, is also being registered in the hope of a regeneration scheme that could utilise both buildings.

The old Rose Downs & Thompson factory on Caroline Street also contributed to Hull’s Victorian prosperity and is now Grade II-listed. Built in 1890, it closed in 1996 and narrowly avoided demolition in 2003. The company itself is older, being established in the 1770s as a foundry for the pressing of oil seeds. It remained in the ownership of the Downs family until the 1970s. Its future is up in the air, with a recent proposal to convert the factory into flats being withdrawn.

The old ISIS mill silo on Morley Street is another survivor of the city’s oil and seed crushing industry. The local landmark, which dates back to 1912, is famous for being decorated with a large Santa every Christmas since the end of World War One. The site, then owned by Cargill, closed in 2022, bringing an end to 500 years of the industry in Hull. It has been added to the list in the hope that it can be preserved if the factory is redeveloped.

Also selected this year was 14 Bishop Lane in Hull, an 18th-century warehouse that could be even older and is Grade II-listed. It has been empty for 20 years, but development schemes have not progressed.

Two other Georgian properties, 1 Jarratt Street and 12 Grimston Street, which date back to 1796, are deemed at risk despite being part of the New Town Conservation Area, associated with Hull’s leading merchants in the port’s early years. Both are in a poor state of repair and some work to their fabric has been carried out without consent. They have recently been sold at auction and their fate is unknown.

The final Hull entry is 53-55 Beverley Road, two Grade II-listed Georgian villas built in 1825. Permission was granted in 2021 for conversion to nine flats but the work has not started and the buildings are deteriorating.

In South Yorkshire, the campaigners have highlighted 31 Bridgegate in Rotherham, a Georgian townhouse which was sold at auction three years ago but remains disused, and the old Highfield Cocoa and Coffee House on London Road in Sheffield. Built in 1877 by master cutler Sir Frederick Mappin, it was the first coffee house in the city. It has recently been scheduled for demolition.

In North Yorkshire, Friary Lodge in Richmond has been added. The Grade II-listed 18th-century house is on the site of medieval friary, but has been empty for 15 years and is in a poor state, with schemes to convert it into flats not materialising.

Yorkshire’s final two entries are both in the East Riding. Ellerton Methodist Church has been vacant for years, while The Roxy in Bridlington is an old Edwardian cinema converted from an earlier temperance hall. It is in partial use as an amusement arcade and cafe, but its survival is not assured and it is underused.