Historic England is inviting people to share their pictures and stories of ‘unique, significant, and memorable’ places across the country.
The Missing Pieces Project, which launched on Thursday, 11 May, asks participants to personally document some of the 400,000 places on the National Heritage List for England for others to see.
‘All over England are places with stories to tell: from buildings to battlefields, some on your doorstep, others just a day trip away,’ the organisation said.
‘Their stories are still being written – and they won’t be complete until you share your side.’
Many different types of material are being welcomed, from phone snaps to vintage pictures, as well as architectural drawings, or memories from holidays, school trips, and family events.
People can make their contribution to the Missing Pieces Project via a special page on the Historic England website.
Helping to launch the project was comedian Angela Barnes, who took a trip to a Grade II-listed Meeting House at the University of Sussex.
Designed by Sir Basil Spence, the Brutalist building holds special memories for Barnes as she was a student at the university. It was also the venue of her wedding.
‘I’m a fan of Brutalist architecture. I even chose it as my specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind… you can’t look at a space like this and not think that it’s beautiful.’
Barnes also visited the Grade II-listed Civil Defence Centre at Gravesend, which was designed as a command post for the local Civil Defence Corps in the event of a Soviet air attack during the Cold War.
‘It’s a part of our history and it’s important that future generations see what was happening here,’ Barnes said of the structure. ‘That’s why it needs to be preserved, so they can come and learn about what happened during that Cold War period.’
Barnes spoke as part of a special film commissioned by Historic England to accompany the launch of the project. You can view the film here.
