Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive at Historic England announces retirement and recruitment starts for his successor
Duncan Wilson CBE has announced that he will retire in October this year. He has served over 25 years as a chief executive in the heritage sector, the past ten as Historic England's Chief Executive and previously at Alexandra Palace, Old Royal Naval College and Somerset House.
Historic England is now recruiting for his successor.
Duncan Wilson became Historic England’s first chief executive following the split of English Heritage into two organisations in 2015.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to Duncan Wilson CBE as he plans to retire after a remarkable tenure as Chief Executive. An archaeologist by training, Duncan brings great expertise, vision, and tenacity to his leadership.
From his pivotal role in delivering the New Model that created Historic England and the English Heritage Trust as separate organisations, to guiding Historic England and the sector through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duncan's impact has been profound.
His prior leadership of institutions such as Alexandra Palace, the Old Royal Naval College, and Somerset House, where he was the founding Director, reflects a career deeply committed to celebrating and protecting the UK’s heritage for everyone.
When he steps down, Duncan will leave behind a superb and talented management team well-prepared to continue his legacy of excellence in heritage preservation and innovation.
Duncan Wilson said:
"My time at Historic England has been hugely rewarding. Over the past ten years we have established a clear public voice to champion England’s wonderful heritage.
I’m particularly proud of our ground breaking High Streets Heritage Action Zones programme which has seen 67 high streets in towns and cities realise the value of their heritage, deepen their engagement with communities and reinforce the cultural wealth of our high streets.
Historic England remains ever more committed to positive and sustainable outcomes for heritage through the planning system, our grants and expertise and our constructive engagement with the climate change agenda.
The restoration of Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings was challenging and rewarding in equal measure and the result is that a historic building of international importance has been rescued from a derelict state; an ambitious project I am incredibly proud of.
Our Heritage Schools programme has had a hugely positive impact reaching almost 3 million children through our training for teachers and resources to equip them to discover and learn from their local heritage.
We have maintained our reputation for thorough research and expertise whilst asking people what is important to them and recognising it, for example through our Everyday Heritage Grants.
A personal highlight, as a former archaeologist, was our support for the excavation at Must Farm, an internationally important archaeological site. It is hard to overstate my delight and excitement seeing a complete Bronze Age settlement which had been buried in the Fens for 3,000 years unearthed along with all its contents.
I want to thank the excellent staff at Historic England to whom the above successes are largely due. I feel proud to hand over an organisation in good health and with progressively more to offer the nation. Our heritage has never been more important and valuable, and I am confident that Historic England will continue to champion it as effectively as we have done in the last few years.”
Recruitment for our new Chief Executive
The recruitment for our new Chief Executive is being managed by Berwick Partners, who are our executive search advisors.
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