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Some of Britain's treasured heritage could be "lost forever" after the novel coronavirus pandemic, as centuries-old skills required to safeguard them risk wipeout if craftsmen lose their jobs, Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, has warned. According to a survey carried out by Historic England, a non-departmental public body tasked with protecting the historic environment of England, almost 80 percent of heritage groups have reported short-term losses and around 60 percent said they have been forced to cancel events due to the pandemic, the London-based Evening Standard newspaper reported.
"We know that coronavirus has hit everyone hard, including the heritage sector, and that there are many individuals and organisations that are really struggling for survival at the moment...The safeguarding of their livelihoods will also determine the survival of our most precious heritage," Wilson was quoted by the news paper as saying.
If these skilled specialists go out of business during the outbreak, the hard truth is that some of Britain's heritage "will be lost forever," Wilson warned.
The organisation, which preserves Britain's natural environment, has launched an emergency fund to help smaller heritage organisations survive the economic toll of the pandemic.
The sector employs 100,000 construction workers, including specialised craftspeople, 6,000 archaeologists, and 24,000 architects, engineers and quantity surveyors, and pumps about 7 billion pounds (about 8.76 billion U.S. dollars) into the economy, according to the public body.
Britain has several world-renowned heritage sites, including the Giant's Causeway, Stonehenge and London Blue plaques.
A Stonehenge on March 20, 2020 in Amesbury, United Kingdom. (VCG)
