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“We don’t look after these places just for the sake of looking after them – we do it because we want them to live,” says Matt Thompson, conservation, curatorial and learning director at English Heritage. When he talks about the sites in the charity’s care it’s clear he’s as passionate about storytelling as he is about the physical sites. “It’s about bringing historical stories to life, and the only way we can do that is when other people encounter them,” he says.

Making those encounters possible involves welcoming visitors from across the world, staging activities and exhibitions, and focusing on the upkeep of sites of world importance such as Stonehenge, Tintagel Castle and Whitby Abbey.

“We see it as our obligation to look after these places so they can feel like a meaningful part of people’s lives, and of the life of the country as a whole,” says Thompson. “Part of our job is helping people to make a connection with humans from the past – that could be people who lived through the second world war, or right back into prehistory.

“There’s something that fascinates us as humans about hearing these stories, and it can be a very powerful, almost emotional experience,” he says.

With more than 5,000 volunteers and some 2,400 staff working to safeguard more than 400 sites and a million historical objects, English Heritage is no insignificant operation. That makes public support for its work vital. Every time someone spends money at an English Heritage site, makes a donation or becomes a member, they’re helping keep history alive.

As well as preserving the sites in its care, the charity has been behind some astonishing discoveries: “We’re always adding new chapters to our stories by uncovering new information,” says Thompson.

These findings include the unearthing of a 500-year-old skeleton of an abbot at Furness Abbey, complete with his copper crozier (crook) and jewelled ring, the discovery in March of a lost cold-war era lookout post and bunker buried beneath Scarborough Castle, and ongoing research at Stonehenge into the origin of its stones.

Thompson explains that this research work is vital to helping visitors understand what the past was really like for those who lived it. “These new discoveries create a textured and nuanced human tapestry that makes it easier to identify with.

“When you actually see a Roman’s favourite piece of pottery, or a game they played when they were alive, it’s a powerful way to make a connection with somebody who lived long ago, and it helps to tell these sweeping narratives on a very human scale.”

Despite the thrill of discovery and the importance of large-scale conservation projects, it’s the everyday maintenance that forms the backbone of the charity’s work.

“We have teams of people undertaking work on the properties in our care up and down the country, every day of the year,” says Thompson. “And while a project that costs millions of pounds, such as the work we undertook on the Iron Bridge in Shropshire, might be more visible, the daily work of maintenance is really at the heart of what we do.

“Those smaller interventions – like keeping gutters and drainpipes clear – are really important, but we can’t do it without financial support. You might visit a site and think the money you spend is a drop in the ocean, but in reality every single visit makes a tangible difference.”

To encourage the kind of connection that keeps visitors coming back again and again, English Heritage welcomes more than 180,000 people on free school trips a year, and also runs a creative programme called Inspiring Voices that brings communities together to creatively explore the past. For the past eight years, it has also been running Shout Out Loud, a project designed to encourage young people aged 11-25 to engage with the charity’s work.

Behind these projects is the hope that English Heritage can help build a bridge not just between its visitors and the past, but between each other, ensuring these awe-inspiring examples of England’s heritage continue to thrive for years to come.

“Our sites are for everyone, but it’s always great to see families coming to see us, because that’s the next generation of people who will appreciate and care for these places,” says Thompson.

“Those connections we’re helping to forge aren’t just with the past, however powerful that might be. There’s also a real power in our sites as places where memories are created; points in the landscape that continue to bring people together, even today.”

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