The Heritage At Risk register, published by English Heritage yesterday (June 23), catalogues 5,094 places in England that are at risk of decay and deterioration, along with 727 locally designated conservation areas.

It lists 22 sites across the Bromley borough and six in Crystal Palace alone, including the famous park's terraces, national sports centre, pedestrian subway and low level train station, as well as the park itself.

Three houses in Hamlet Road, Crystal Palace, are also deemed to be at risk after suffering structural problems.

There has been just one building added to the list this year - the old town hall in Bromley.

However, according to English Heritage’s grading system, there has been no improvement in the condition of any of the remaining 15 buildings which also made last year’s register.

In fact, privately-owned Downe Court Manor in Downe and the ice house in Sundridge Park are still graded A, meaning they are at “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”.

Head of English Heritage’s regional partnerships Nigel Barker said: “In both urban and suburban conservation areas pressures from new development, both residential and commercial, has the potential to affect these special areas.

“The challenges are not going to be easy to address.”

Bromley Civic Society

The Bromley Civic Society have labelled the lack of progress over the last 12 months as “shameful”.

Five former RAF buildings in the West Camp, Main Road, Biggin Hill, are still marked as grade C, which indicates slow decay with no future use for the building decided.

The Studio in Beckenham Road, Beckenham, which is owned by the council, is also grade C for second year running.

Meanwhile, the council-owned, balustraded walkway in Penge High Street makes the list again, showing no improvement from last year’s grade C.

Bromley Council say plans to lease 28 Beckenham Road, formerly The Studio, to Citygate Christian Outreach Centre were agreed in May - too late to be reflected in the English Heritage report.

A spokesman added: “Citygate’s proposal would see the building brought back into use as a community facility.”

None of the buildings in Crystal Palace have shown an improvement in grading this year, while another building on the list, the grade D Derwent House in Chislehurst, is also unchanged.

Old town hall

A new addition to last year’s list is the old town hall on Tweedy Road in Bromley town centre.

The former Bromley College site run by the council is now empty and was given a priority E rating by English Heritage. The survey says the building is in a fair condition.

Bromley Civic Society chairman Tony Banfield says the council should consider using the building for its offices again.

He said: “The town hall was built using public funds and the fact it has been left to rot is very worrying.

“It is an awkward site to adapt to office use because it is a listed building and there are police cells in the basement.

“But the council needs to get its priorities right and the fact the old town hall has been found to be at risk shows they may not be doing that.”

Vandalism

It was not only historic buildings that made it onto the “at risk” register.

A number of monuments were also deemed to be in need of restoration and repair including an iron age settlement and Roman villa at Warbank in Keston.

Meanwhile, the camp on Keston Common and the High Elms ice house are also said to be in a “declining” condition due to visitor erosion and overgrown vegetation.

Two Romano-British sites in Wickham Court Farm in West Wickham and Fordcroft in Orpington were deemed to be at risk from arable ploughing and vandalism. The Orpington site is also home to a Saxon cemetery.