Archaeological sites at risk reduced by 4% but still harder to save than buildings in tough times. English Heritage Heritage at Risk Register 2010 Shows Success of Partnerships with Owners and Local Authorities.
The Heritage at Risk Register 2010 published today (Wednesday 7 July 2010) by English Heritage shows that the number of scheduled monuments at risk has fallen by 140 to 3,395, but the Register also confirms that the proportion of scheduled monuments at risk is still high at 17.2% (one in six), with the South West, Yorkshire and The Humber, and West Midlands having the highest share.
Damage from cultivation is still the greatest cause of risk, with degradation and decay as a result of natural processes such as scrub and tree growth, erosion and burrowing animals, a close second.
Scheduled monuments are our most cherished, nationally important archaeological sites and landscapes. They include prehistoric burial mounds, stone circles and hill forts, Roman towns and villas, medieval settlements, castles and abbeys and the industrial structures of our more recent past. They are a unique inheritance that tells the story of many generations of human endeavour and life. They create our sense of time and place, and add greatly to the distinctiveness of our towns and countryside.
However, scheduled monuments have few practical uses. Unlike historic buildings, they are unlikely of being re-used in a way which might generate funds towards their upkeep. Most are privately owned and on land used for another purpose such as farming. Very few are owned and looked after by conservation bodies.
Against this background, the Heritage at Risk Register has proved highly effective. It has enabled English Heritage, working closely with owners, local authorities and other partners, to identify which monuments are most at risk, to prioritise resources, to analyse the causes of risk and to roll out often quite simple and inexpensive solutions to all monuments in similar predicaments across the country, thereby removing large numbers from the at Risk Register.
But in the current economic climate, these schemes themselves might be at risk from budgetary cut-backs. As Council budgets are squeezed, the number of archaeological officers will also continue to decline, depleting the vital local expertise required to identify solutions on the ground.
Dr Vince Holyoak, Senior Policy Adviser for English Heritage, said: "Finding sustainable long term solutions through working with owners and third partners, notably the Environmental Stewardship Scheme with Natural England, have produced remarkable success. While we expect many more monuments to come off the register as a result of this particular scheme in the next few years, the future of many other schemes which rely on public funding are less certain. Archaeological sites do not, even in more prosperous times, generate an income. Their importance as part of our heritage is nevertheless immeasurable, and their urgent needs must not be ignored.
"The Heritage at Risk Register equips us well to continue rescuing England's most ancient historic remains for the future and we will do all we can to avoid this year's success rate from slowing down or even being reversed."
Over 2,000 scheduled monuments – 10% of the national total – have now been entered voluntarily by their owners into the Environmental Stewardship scheme administered by Natural England. Of these some 800 are monuments that were previously under the plough, but which have since been either taken entirely out of cultivation or their protection has been enhanced because of changes being made in the way animal husbandry is managed.
English Heritage is also undertaking a survey of landowners in the East Midlands to learn more about their attitudes to managing monuments in cultivation. In particular, the survey will find out what kinds of additional advice and practical support they need to undertake often quite simple and inexpensive methods of prevention.
