“We don’t look after these places just for the sake of looking after them – we do it because we want them to live,” says Matt Thompson, conservation, curatorial and learning director at English Heritage. When he talks about the sites in the charity’s care it’s clear he’s as passionate about storytelling as he is about the physical sites. “It’s about bringing historical stories to life, and the only way we can do that is when other people encounter them,” he says.
Making those encounters possible involves welcoming visitors from across the world, staging activities and exhibitions, and focusing on the upkeep of sites of world importance such as Stonehenge, Tintagel Castle and Whitby Abbey.
