Current Research Programme

You can find out about our current research programme, which includes:

Understanding the social and economic value of heritage
Identifying and recording new sites to guide future planning decisions
Looking at the performance of historic buildings and the best ways of conserving their physical fabric
Research into the opportunities and threats facing the historic environment
Contributing to the National Heritage Science Strategy

You can also see selected highlights of our current research work in our Latest Research pages, incorporating Historic England Research magazine.

Discovering and Understanding Our Heritage
Our research focusses on areas where our knowledge is weakest or the threat of loss is high.
Opportunities and Threats
This section looks at the opportunities and threats that face heritage over the coming years.
Social and Economic Research
Historic England is committed to carrying out social and economic research in order to help us to understand the value of heritage.
Conservation Research
Historic England carries out and commissions research on a wide range of conservation-related topics.
Heritage Science & Archaeology
Heritage science encompasses all technological and scientific work that can benefit the heritage sector.
Planning Research
To understand how the planning system works in practice, Historic England undertakes and commissions research.

Research