Coastal Policy

English Heritage advises government on the implications of coastal zone management and coastal defence policy on the historic environment at a strategic and scheme specific level. We also commission research intended to improve understanding and conservation of historic remains in the coastal zone.

In 1997, we published England's Coastal Heritage: a survey for English Heritage and the RCHME [out of print] and England's Coastal Heritage: a policy statement by English Heritage and the RCHME. These documents provided a benchmark of current understanding of the archaeology of the coastal zone and set out our policy towards coastal archaeological remains. In 1998, we also published Nautical Archaeology on the Foreshore (as the Royal Commission on the historical Monuments of England), which provided a standard for the recording of vessel remains in the inter-tidal zone.

We have grant aided, or part-funded, a number of more detailed coastal surveys carried out by our partners in local authorities. Published examples include "Archaeology of the Essex Coast, Volume 1: The Hullbridge Survey" published by Essex County Council in 1995, "Fal Estuary Historic Audit" in 1997 and "The Early Environment of Scilly" published by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1996.

In 2006 new RCZAS were initiated in the Severn Estuary and on the Yorkshire and Humberside coasts. A Project Design for the North East coast is in preparation, and development of a Project Outline for the North West will begin in November 2006. Concurrently enhancement studies are being funded in Essex and Suffolk (monitoring and more detailed recording), and on the Isle of Wight (enhancement of the earlier IOW Coastal Audit, principally by means of a radiocarbon dating programme). Project designs include provision for producing summaries of results, which will be posted on this page as they become available.

We have also published a statement on the integration of historic environment considerations within shoreline management planning and the treatment of historic assets in managed realignment schemes, Coastal Defence and the Historic Environment: English Heritage Guidance. A Conservation Bulletin article Coastal Defence: Caring for England's Coastal Heritage provides further background.

With the passing of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage has also assumed front-line responsibility for maritime archaeology within Englands' territorial waters.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these documents, if you don't already have it, download a free copy.