New research from Historic England has found that there has been a significant spike in the number of thefts from heritage sites in the past few years.
Primarily, in 2022, there was a nine per cent increase in York stone being stolen from locations across England. The team believe this could be as a result of the cost of living, as the high value of this material – coupled with it being uniquely difficult to trace – means thieves have begun targeting York Stone more frequently.
Mark Harrison, Head of Heritage Crime at Historic England, said, “in many cases, they just see it as a commodity. They don’t see the historical linkage at all… they just see that with pound note signs on it.”
He went on to describe the priceless nature of England’s historical sites: “We’ve lived on these islands for 800,000 years; our ancestors have left us a rich legacy and we need to look after that.
Mark Harrison, Head of Heritage Crime at Historic England, warned thieves ‘just see it as a commodity’
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“Otherwise, there will be nothing for our ancestors to enjoy and research.”
But, despite increased efforts by Historic England and various police forces across the country, certain criminals still target these sites.
In 2022, three men were arrested and found guilty of stealing over £100,000 worth of York stone from various sites ranging from Staffordshire all the way up to Lancashire, within the space of just three months.
One of the sites affected was St Mary’s Church in Congleton, Cheshire – a Grade 1 listed building, which was established back in the Saxon era.
Yet, the criminals who were eventually convicted of these crimes still saw fit to steal the York stone from the church’s path, leaving it destroyed.
However, thanks to forensic work done by Cheshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team, they were able to track down the stolen stone and return it to it’s original place.
The team also managed to locate the three men responsible, and they were subsequently convicted.
Rob Simpson, who works within the Rural Crime Team, said, “it’s really important that people know that we will go out of our way to go after people who are responsible for this kind of crime.”
“Some people might wonder why we invest so much time and money in heritage crime. It’s because it’s a crime against every single one of us when it happens.”
Historic England has also reported incidents of theft of other valuable materials – including lead – as well as cases of vandalism and arson at heritage sites up and down the country.
Their recommendation now is to introduce the “appropriate police systems”, alongside better tracking and analysis of these crimes when they occur.
Source Agencies
