Updating the Schedule

Reviewing the old schedule

Deciding which monuments to keep is not always straightforward, unless the selection has already been made for us by the passage of time, such as prehistoric burial mounds or Iron Age hill forts. For less ancient types of site - whether these are medieval moated sites, which survive in large numbers, or the many historic collieries closed during the 1980s - the selection process is more difficult.

Our understanding of the country's archaeological heritage has increased considerably since 1882 when the first monuments were scheduled. However by the 1980's it was clear that not all types of monuments were well represented on the schedule. A project called the Monuments Protection Programme was set up within English Heritage in 1986 to reassess all known archaeological sites, and we are currently halfway through a major overhaul of the schedule.

The Monuments Protection Programme

The Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire is a scheduled industrial monument and was built to link two separate waterways systems We are looking at the sites across a wide area to decide which are the best and most typical examples, using such criteria as date, rarity, condition and group value. We might, for example, compare moated sites across a large region, or one whole class of sites - such as motte and bailey castles - across the whole country. We are focusing on more sites which are beyond everyday use and can only be protected by scheduling, and on clarifying the overlap with listing.

The work involves new surveys and desk-based research, using Sites and Monuments Records data, working in partnership with local authorities, and consulting widely with owners and experts to identify those remains worthy of protection.

Our current work is concentrating on medieval rural settlements, 20th-century defences and industrial archaeology.

There are now around 18,000 entries on the Schedule up and down the country, with about 1,200 more being added each year. We estimate that eventually there will be around 30,000 scheduled sites. This work will ensure that what we value and seek to pass on to posterity is a representative selection of the monuments which have survived until today.

Industrial archaeology

Our diverse industrial heritage presents a challenge when we come to recommend sites for protection, especially as county Sites and Monuments Records do not always or fully document industrial archaeological sites. We are looking at the remains industry by industry, gathering data and consulting widely, before making conservation decisions. Eighteen industries have so far been tackled, and the work is complemented by the thematic listing programme for specific industrial building types.