Legally protected archaeological site or historic building in the United Kingdom
Cranmore Castle in Devon is an Iron Ageearthwork. Like many scheduled monuments, it blends into the landscape, and may not be evident even to those crossing over it.
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term "designation". The protection provided to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979,[1] which is a different law from that used for listed buildings (which fall within the town and country planning system).[1] A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest.[2] Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation.
There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets.[3] Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but some are large ruins. According to the 1979 Act, a monument cannot be a structure which is occupied as a dwelling, used as a place of worship or a protected shipwreck.
The legislation relevant to scheduled monuments
Scheduled monuments are defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.[1] In England, Wales and Scotland they are often referred to as a scheduled ancient monument, although the Act defines only ancient monument and scheduled monument. A monument can be:
A building or structure, cave or excavation which is above or below the surface of the land; or on / under the sea bed within UK territorial waters (or a site that contains the remains of one).
A site comprising any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other moveable structure (or contains the remains of one).[1]
In Northern Ireland they are designated under separate legislation and are referred to as a scheduled historic monument (for those in private ownership) or a monument in state care (for those in public ownership).
History
The first Act to enshrine legal protection for ancient monuments was the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. This identified an initial list of 68 prehistoric sites that were given a degree of legal protection (25 sites in England, three in Wales, 22 in Scotland and 18 in Ireland).[4] This was the result of strenuous representation by William Morris and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which had been founded in 1877. Following various previous attempts, the 1882 legislation was guided through Parliament by John Lubbock, who in 1871 had bought Avebury, Wiltshire, to ensure the survival of the stone circle.
The first Inspector of Ancient Monuments, as set up by the act, was Augustus Pitt Rivers. At this point, only the inspector, answering directly to the First Commissioner of Works, was involved in surveying the scheduled sites and persuading landowners to offer sites to the state.[5] The act also established the concept of guardianship, in which a site might remain in private ownership, but the monument itself become the responsibility of the state, as guardian.[4] However the legislation could not compel landowners, as that level of state interference with private property was not politically possible. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 extended the scope of the legislation to include medieval monuments. Pressure grew for stronger legislation. In a speech in 1907, Robert Hunter, chairman of the National Trust, observed that only a further 18 sites had been added to the original list of 68.[6] 'Scheduling' in the modern sense only became possible with the passing of the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913.
When Pitt Rivers died in 1900 he was not immediately replaced as Inspector. Charles Peers, a professional architect, was appointed as Inspector in 1910 in the Office of Works becoming Chief Inspector in 1913. The job title 'Inspector' is still in use.[7]
The process for designating a scheduled monument
Scheduling offers protection because it makes it illegal to undertake a great range of 'works' within a designated area, without first obtaining 'scheduled monument consent'.[8] However, it does not affect the owner's freehold title or other legal interests in the land, nor does it give the general public any new rights of public access. The process of scheduling does not automatically imply that the monument is being poorly managed or that it is under threat, nor does it impose a legal obligation to undertake any additional management of the monument.[9]
In England and Wales the authority for designating, re-designating and de-designating a scheduled monument lies with the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The Secretary of State keeps the list, or schedule, of these sites.[2]
The designation process was first devolved to Scotland and Wales in the 1970s and is now operated there by the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government respectively. The government bodies with responsibility for archaeology and the historic environment in Britain are: Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, and Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland. The processes for application and monitoring scheduled monuments is administered in England by Historic England; in Wales by Cadw on behalf of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament);[10] and in Scotland by Historic Environment Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.
In Northern Ireland, the term "Scheduled Historic Monument" is used. These sites protected under Article 3 of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. The schedule contains over 1,900 sites, and is maintained by the Department for Communities.[11]
Heritage protection legislation for scheduled monuments
There is no positive distinction yet for a single method of registering sites of heritage. The long tradition of legal issues did not lead to a condensed register nor to any single authority to take care of over the course of the last 130 years.
The UK is a signatory to the Council of Europe's Valletta Treaty which obliges it to have a legal system to protect archaeological heritage on land and under water.[3] The body of designation legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction is complex, and dates back to 1882.[12] There have been many revisions since, and the UK government states that it remains committed to heritage protection legislation reform,[13] even though the draft Heritage Protection Bill 2008,[14] which proposed a single 'register' that included scheduled monuments and listed buildings, was abandoned to make room in the parliamentary legislative programme for measures to deal with the credit crunch.[15]
The scheduling system has been criticised by some as being cumbersome.[15] In England and Wales it also has a limited definition of what constitutes a monument. Features such as ritual landscapes, battlefields and flint scatters are difficult to schedule; recent amendment in Scotland (see below) has widened the definition to include "any site... comprising any thing, or group of things, that evidences previous human activity".[16]
The wide range of legislation means that the terminology describing how historic sites are protected varies according to the type of heritage asset. Monuments are "scheduled", buildings are "listed", whilst battlefields, parks and gardens are "registered", and historic wrecks are "protected". Historic urban spaces receive protection through designation as "conservation areas",[17] and historic landscapes are designated through national park and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) legislation.[18] In addition, there are areas in the UK are also protected as World Heritage Sites.
To add to the confusion, some heritage assets can be both listed buildings and scheduled monuments (e.g. Dunblane Cathedral). World Heritage Sites, conservation areas and protected landscapes can also contain both scheduled monuments and listed buildings.[3] Where a heritage asset is both scheduled and listed, many provisions of the listing legislation are dis-applied (for example those relating to building preservation notices).
In England, Scotland and Wales, protection of monuments can also be given by another process, additional to or separate from scheduling, taking the monument into state ownership or placing it under guardianship, classifying it as a guardianship monument under the terms of Section 12 of the 1979 Act (as amended by the National Heritage Act 1983 in England, and by the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011) (e.g. St Rule's Church in St Andrews). The latter meaning that the owner retains possession, while the appropriate national heritage body maintains it and (usually) opens it to the public. All monuments in guardianship on the passing of the 1979 Act were automatically included in the 'schedule'.
Scheduling is not usually applied to underwater sites although historic wrecks can be protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973,[19] although three maritime sites have been designated as scheduled monuments. In Scotland new powers for protection of the marine heritage, better integrated with other maritime conservation powers, have been given by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.[20] It is intended that the marine scheduled monuments will be protected by this new Act. The Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act, which amended the 1979 Act, was passed into law in 2011.[21]
Wider areas can be protected by designating their locations as Areas of Archaeological Importance (AAI) under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.[1] As of 2011, only five city centres in England have been designated as AAIs (Canterbury, Chester, Exeter, Hereford and York).[22] This part of the 1979 Act was never brought into effect in Scotland.
The schedules
It is a legal requirement to maintain the 'schedule' of monuments. In England the Department for Culture, Media and Sport keeps a register, or schedule, of nationally important sites which receive state protection. The National Heritage List for England now includes about 400,000 heritage sites, including scheduled monuments.[23] This online searchable list can be found on the Historic England web site. The list of Scottish monuments can be searched on the Historic Environment Scotland website, or through Pastmap.[24] For Wales, the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), has an online database called "Coflein" which contains the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales.
Criteria for scheduling
To be eligible for scheduling, a monument must be demonstrably of (in the terms of the 1979 Act) "national importance". Non-statutory criteria are provided to guide the assessment. In England these are:[3][25]
Period – meaning the length of time it remained in use; significant sites are often multi-period
Rarity – monuments with few known comparators are more likely to be scheduled
Documentation – information from earlier investigations at a site can inform on its significance
Group value – where a monument forms part of a wider geographical landscape of important sites
Survival/condition – the degree to which the surviving remains convey the size, shape and function of the site
Fragility/vulnerability – threats to the site from natural agencies, tourism or development can lead to a monument being scheduled for its protection
Representativity – how well the monument represents diverse similar types and/or whether it contains unique features
Potential – its ability to contribute to our knowledge through further study.
The Scottish criteria were revised after public consultation between 2006 and 2008.[26]
There is no appeal against the scheduling process and adding a monument to the schedule may be a process requiring a great deal of research and consideration. The process can be accelerated for sites under threat, however. In England, Historic England gathers information on a site, defines a boundary around it and advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of its eligibility for inclusion on the schedule. In Wales Cadw is part of central government and act on behalf of the relevant ministers. In Scotland, since October 2015, Historic Environment Scotland has been a non-departmental public body advising Scottish Ministers.
Do any "works" which would demolish, damage, remove, repair, add or alter it (including agriculture, forestry, flooding and tipping) without previous permission from the Secretary of State or devolved equivalent, given through formal written "scheduled monument consent"
Use a metal detector without prior consent
Remove any historic or archaeological object from the site without prior consent.[1]
Despite perceptions to the contrary, only a very small proportion of applications for scheduled monument consent are refused. In Scotland in the ten years from 1995 to 2005, out of 2,156 applications, only 16 were refused.[26] Development close to a scheduled monument which might damage its setting is also a material consideration in the planning system.
Rosslyn Chapel is an intact church, though only the unused sections are protected by scheduling
Management of scheduled monuments
Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland and Cadw monitor the condition of scheduled monuments. They encourage owners to maintain scheduled monuments in good condition by using sympathetic land uses, for example restricting stock levels or controlling undergrowth which can damage archaeology below ground.[27]
Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw, Historic England and Natural England also offer owners advice on how to manage their monuments. There are some grant incentive schemes for owners, including schemes run by Historic England and by Natural England for farmers and land managers.[28]
Historic Environment Scotland,[29] Historic England[30] and Cadw,[31] occasionally award grants to support management agreements for monuments, and in some cases can help with major repairs.
In England, the condition of scheduled monuments is also reported through the Heritage at Risk survey.[3] In 2008 this survey extended to include all listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, protected wreck sites and conservation areas.[32] The register is compiled by survey by a range of heritage groups including Natural England, the Forestry Commission, local authorities, national park authorities, the National Trust, regional and local archaeological societies, Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officers, voluntary groups, property owners, land managers and farmers.
Examples
England
With a moat, this is the only scrap of masonry that remains of Sleaford Castle.
Wymondham Abbey in Norfolk is a scheduled monument, a Grade I listed building, and lies in Wymondham Conservation Area.
The cruise missile shelter complex (GAMA - GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area) at the former RAF Greenham Common was scheduled in 2003 as a key emblematic monument of the Cold War, with wider cultural significance as the focus of protest against the nuclear arms race.[33]
Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian (the basement of the chapel and surrounding structures are scheduled, although the parts of the chapel in ecclesiastical use are excluded)[38]
English Heritage is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
This page gives an overview of the complex structure of environmental and cultural conservation in the United Kingdom.
Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, to make them available for the public to visit, enjoy, and understand their significance. Cadw manages 127 state-owned properties and sites. It arranges events at its managed properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks, and hosts an online shop. Members of the public can become members of Cadw to gain membership privileges.
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland. The classification schemes differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "protected structure".
The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register was set up by Historic England under the provisions of the National Heritage Act 1983. Over 1,600 sites are listed, ranging from the grounds of large stately homes to small domestic gardens, as well other designed landscapes such as town squares, public parks and cemeteries. The register is published on the National Heritage List for England alongside other national heritage designations.
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 or AMAAA was a law passed by the UK government, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the archaeological heritage of England and Wales, and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own legislation.
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was introduced by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, recognising the need for a governmental administration on the protection of ancient monuments, and was finally passed after a number of failed attempts on heritage protection acts. The gradual change towards a state-based authority responsible for the safeguarding of the Kingdom's national heritage manifested itself through the appointment of the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments in 1882, General Pitt Rivers.
The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks.
Three separate historic buildings councils were created by the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, one for each of England, Scotland, and Wales. Each Historic Buildings Council advised the relevant government minister on the exercise of powers under the 1953 Act relating to the preservation of listed buildings and other buildings of special architectural or historic interest, including applications for grants. Responsibilities for advice in relation to the Planning Act 1990 were added latter.
Historic England is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, scheduling ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens and by advising central and local government.
An annual Heritage at Risk Register is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for action and funding decisions. This heritage-at-risk data is one of the UK government's official statistics.
The Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain.
Registered battlefields in the UK are battlefields recognised as having specific historic or cultural significance. They are recognised as such by conservationist organisations for a variety of reasons, including protecting them from development that may threaten historic buildings, items, or topography. The history relating to them is often hard to unravel, as there is often little to see above ground and the historical record is often biased in favour of the victors. The UK has many historic battlefield sites, some of which have legal protection through heritage protection legislation whilst others are protected through landscape legislation. More recently, some archaeologists prefer the term "site of conflict" to "battlefield", because of the difficulty in defining the geographical extent of a site.
Designation is the act of setting aside something, or devoting it to a particular purpose. In the legal planning context, it is also "the action of choosing a place for a special purpose or giving it a special status".
Scheduled monuments are sites of archaeological importance with specific legal protection against damage or development.
A scheduled monument in Scotland is a nationally important archaeological site or monument which is given legal protection by being placed on a list maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The aim of scheduling is to preserve the country's most significant sites and monuments as far as possible in the form in which they have been inherited.
A scheduled monument in Scotland is a nationally important archaeological site or monument which is given legal protection by being placed on a list maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The aim of scheduling is to preserve the country's most significant sites and monuments as far as possible in the form in which they have been inherited.
Many parts of Scotland are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations because of their environmental, historical or cultural value. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. NatureScot has various roles in the delivery of many environmental designations in Scotland, i.e. those aimed at protecting flora and fauna, scenic qualities and geological features. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designations that protect sites of historic and cultural importance. Some international designations, such as World Heritage Sites, can cover both categories of site.
↑ Iain MacIvor & Richard Fawcett (1983) 'Planks from the shipwreck of time: an account of Ancient Monumentry, then and now', in M Magnusson (ed) 'Echoes in Stone', p 9-27
↑ "Draft Heritage Protection Bill"(PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. April 2009. Archived(PDF) from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
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