Introduction to Heritage Skills

Our built heritage is not just the great churches, castles and stately homes that enrich the UK's built environment, but also the more humble traditional dwellings and industrial buildings that provide the distinctive character of our villages, towns and cities.

There are over 6 million such buildings in the UK and their long-term presrvation depends on the specialist skill, knowledge and expertise of contractors, tradespeople, craftspeople and building professionals.

Heritage Skills refers to the specialist practical and technical ability and knowledge needed by practitioners from stonemasons to thatchers, to conserve, repair, maintain and where appropriate restore these buildings. 

Building professionals, such as architects and surveyors, who will commission and oversee construction work on these buildings also require specialist knowledge if they are to correctly specify work to the required standard.

This specialist activity requires a high degree of skill. It also needs an understanding of traditional building methods and materials to undertake repairs which retain as much as possible of the original fabric of the building. 

Over time, these once commonplace skills have declined, but a revival is taking place and with over 100,000 craftspeople currently working in the sector there are opportunities for new entrants and career changers to play a vital role in ensuring that these skills are alive and relevant in the 21st century.