Shadwell Park, near Brettenham, Norfolk
A major country house with a complicated history, this Grade I-listed Gothic extravaganza has been woefully neglected for many years. The original 18th century building was first extended by Edward Blore in 1839-42 and then spectacularly enlarged by SS Teulon in 1856-60. The result is a heavyweight Gothic masterpiece in which symmetry is a taboo, a country house which fully deserves its place among England's top three percent of listed buildings. It's a shame that the owner doesn't seem to recognise this: having neglected the empty house for years whilst using its ground for a race-horse stud, he has allowed Shadwell Park to deteriorate seriously. The house now has dry rot, is no longer weather-tight and faces serious structural risk. Victorian Society representatives tried to arrange a visit earlier this year but were not allowed access. We are grateful to the Country Life picture library for allowing us to use one of its archive photographs.

Photograph courtesy of Michael Slaughter

Crocker's Public House, Aberdeen Place, London
A particularly fine late Victorian pub with an opulent interior, Crocker's Public House has stood empty for some years. Sometimes referred to as 'Crocker's Folly', it is rumoured to have seen the suicide of its first landlord, Frank Crocker, who is said to have despaired after he realised that the railway terminus he'd been banking on being built opposite was actually going to be sited at Marylebone, a good half a mile away. Historical records show this story to be apocryphal; in fact Frank Crocker lived to a fine old age and saw the success of both his pub and several other business ventures. The pub with its rich entrance hall saloon and marble-covered counter and bar stands as a testament to his vigour and ambition. Its quality is reflected by its Grade II*-listing. Sadly, though, this has not been enough to ensure its future and Crocker's, like many other good historic pubs, stands boarded up and disused. Joining with CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) and other campaigners, we hope to see a solution for this truly outstanding pub.

Former Easington Colliery Junior School, Easington Colliery, County Durham
The only listed buildings in the village, the handsome, symmetrical boys' and girls' blocks of Easington Colliery School are a physical record of the development of the coalfield community. Designed in 1911 by a local architect, John Morson, they have stood empty since the school closed in 1998, when Durham County Council sold them for a pound each. They have since been passed from developer to developer for six figure sums, becoming increasingly dilapidated, until, earlier this year, an application to demolish them and build houses on the site was submitted. Sick of living alongside the derelict buildings - 'Britain's largest pigeon loft,' as one man described them - local people were understandably anxious to see something done. Yet it was clear that other options for the former school, which despite years of neglect is still structurally sound, had not been properly explored. Joining with English Heritage, we fought the plans at a Public Inquiry. Permission for demolition was refused, but this is just the start: it's imperative that a new use be found for these landmark buildings as soon as possible, so that local people can be proud of them again.

Public Baths, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester
Probably the longest derelict building on our top ten list, the Grade II*-listed swimming baths in Ashton-under-Lyne has sat empty since the pool was closed in the early 1970's. Designed in 1870-71 by Paull & Robinson, this large, Italianate and densely patterned red and white brick building is a local landmark as well as one of the most significant examples of its type. Inside, it retains it galleries and hammerbeam roof. Local and national campaign groups have been calling for the building to be saved for many years, but so far nothing tangible has been done. As the pool has been filled with concrete, there is no possibility of the baths ever reopening in their original use, but it is hard to see what other use would be both viable and acceptable in this impressive building. Standing darkly against the skyline, it is a salutary reminder of the difficulty of finding new uses for historic swimming baths once they are allowed to close.

St Walburge's Roman Catholic Church, Preston
A review of mission work in the Lancashire Diocese could soon see the future of a number of excellent Roman Catholic churches thrown into doubt, chief among them Preston's Grade I-listed St Walburge's by Joseph Aloysius Hansom. Built between 1850 and 1867, the church is an impressive and, to some, unsettlingly individual testament to the rise of Roman Catholicism in Lancashire. With its 300 ft spire, its steep hammerbeam roof and its vast internal space, it astonishes those who visit it. Designed for a large and expanding Catholic population, it now has one mass for 120 people a week. With stretched resources and dwindling congregations, the Diocese proposes to close St Walburge's and amalgamate the parish with the adjacent one, leaving this exceptional building, like so many other historic churches, empty, vulnerable and with no future agreed.

The Frank James Memorial Hospital, East Cowes, Isle of Wight
Left at the mercy of vandals and the elements for several years, the Grade II-listed Frank James Memorial Hospital is in desperate need of rescuing. Built as a home for aged seamen in 1893 by Somers, Clarke and Micklethwaite, it was converted into a cottage hospital in 1903 and continued in use until it was sold to developers in 2002. It has since sat empty whilst developers built on its grounds, giving vandals ample opportunity to smash its inadequately boarded-up windows and get inside. After the building was sold on again, disputes over access to the site led to mortgage companies freezing the funds backing the development plans of the new owners, bringing all work to a halt. Earlier this year, Isle of Wight Council carried out urgent works to the building and is still trying to recover the costs from the owners. Meanwhile, the Frank James Hospital, once a charming and picturesque building, is left to rot.

Short-listed Buildings

• Allotment Building, Fosse Lane, Leicestershire (Grade II-listed, dating from the 1860s, architect unknown, seriously vandalised)
• Water Tower, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Unlisted, 1891, T&C Hawksley, may be demolished as part of a redevelopment scheme)
• Garrison Church, Colchester, Essex (Grade II*-listed, 1856, architect unknown but contains relocated Pugin fittings, future uncertain)
• Brady's Bar, Brixton, London (Unlisted, 1880, architect unknown, derelict and vandalised)
  " 549 Lordship Lane, Camberwell, London (Grade II-listed, 1873, Charles Drake, derelict with an application for total demolition)
• Laurel Building, Bishop Auckland, County Durham (Grade II-listed, 1864, 1873-4, 1897, 1864, various architects, derelict and fire-damaged)
• Former Unitarian Chapel, Manchester, Lancashire (Grade II*-listed, 1837-9, Charles Barry, serious dereliction and disrepair)
• Holy Trinity, Hove, Sussex (Grade II-listed, 1863-4, J Woodman, application for total demolition)
• Chapels at Cathays Cemetry, Cardiff, Wales (Grade II-listed, 1859, RG Thomas, derelict)