World Heritage Sites are places of international importance for the conservation of mankind's cultural and natural heritage. In 2007, there were 851 of them, including 27 in the UK and overseas territories. Examples include the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, the Great Barrier Reef, Venice and the Tower of London.

World Heritage Sites are places that need to be preserved for future generations, as part of a common universal heritage

The World Heritage Convention was established in 1972 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). The World Heritage List set up by the Convention includes natural sites, and a wide variety of cultural sites such as landscapes, towns, historic monuments and modern buildings.

For a trip around the World Heritage Sites across the globe, visit: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Nomination process

To become a World Heritage Site, sites have to be nominated by governments to the World Heritage Committee, an intergovernmental body set up under the terms of the Convention. The Committee decides following an assessment by specialist international bodies: ICOMOS for cultural sites and IUCN for natural sites.  In the UK, the government has a list of sites which it will consider for nomination in future years.

Which are the UK World Heritage Sites?

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in Yorkshire features the ruins of a Cistercian abbey set in a beautiful 18th century designed landscape. 

• 1986
  Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
  Durham Castle and Cathedral
  Ironbridge Gorge
  Studley Royal Park, including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey
  Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
  Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
  St. Kilda
• 1987
  Blenheim Palace
  City of Bath
  Hadrian's Wall
  Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Saint Margaret's Church
• 1988
  Henderson Island
  Tower of London 
  Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church
• 1995
  Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
  Gough Island Wildlife Reserve
• 1997
  Maritime Greenwich
• 1999
  Heart of Neolithic Orkney
• 2000
  Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
  Historic Town of St George, Bermuda
• 2001
  Dorset and East Devon Coast
  Derwent Valley Mills
  New Lanark
  Saltaire
• 2003
  Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew
• 2004
  Liverpool
• 2006
  Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

For a map of the UK World Heritage Sites, follow this link www.icomos.org/uk

What are the implications of being a World Heritage Site?

International Recognition and Accountability

World Heritage status brings enormous prestige to a site. It may help to promote the site internationally and attract new visitors, if appropriate. It also encourages the highest quality standards for welcoming visitors and managing the site. It also means international accountability, and if a site is threatened, it can be added by the World Heritage Committee to the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

Improved Protection and Management of the Site

The protection of a World Heritage Site is the responsibility of national governments, working with the local authorities and stakeholders. To ensure that all World Heritage Sites are managed in a sustainable way, Management Plans are recommended by UNESCO. Such Plans help ensure the preservation of the site by establishing a framework for decision making. They identify opportunities and long-term objectives. In addition, governments must report to UNESCO every six years on the state of conservation of World Heritage Sites in their territory.

Planning Implications

In the UK, World Heritage status does not imply any additional statutory controls. The implementation of the WHS Management Plan relies on the effective co-operation of the stakeholders. Local authorities are encouraged by UK government Planning Policy Guidance 15 to develop planning policies to protect World Heritage Sites and to consider the importance of the WHS as a ‘key material consideration’ when making planning decisions. PPG15 also recommends the development of management plans for World Heritage Sites.  At Stonehenge, the WHS Management Plan was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance by Salisbury District Council, and there is a WHS Policy in the Local Plan.

Stonehenge World Heritage Site Policy

(extract from the Salisbury District Local Plan, June 2003)
CN24 - Development that would adversely affect the archaeological landscape of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, or the fabric or setting of its monuments, will not be permitted.

New Partnerships and Projects

The process of developing the Management Plan involves bringing together all the key stakeholders to agree a common vision for the future of the site. As a result, working links are reinforced and new projects emerge. At Stonehenge, over 70 organisations and individuals were involved in this process. World Heritage status may also make it easier to negotiate additional funding, protection or expertise. For instance, at Stonehenge and Avebury, a special grant scheme was put in place following the publication of the WHS Management Plans. It encourages farmers to convert arable land to grassland for the benefit of the archaeological landscape, the setting of Stonehenge and biodiversity. It was made possible thanks to an exemplary partnership between English Heritage, the National Trust, English Nature and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).