Ancient Monuments
The important sites and monuments of England are included on a schedule. This is the oldest form of record for the historic environment dating back to 1882. English Heritage is now mainly responsible for identifying sites, but the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport places them on the schedule. Monuments scheduled include a wide range of nationally important archaeological sites. Factors that influence judgements on importance include rarity, extent of survival, condition, connection with other groups and extent of documentation.
The legislative protection of the sites is laid out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act of 1979. Governmental guidance is given in PPG16. Sites are protected against disturbance and unlicensed metal detecting and Scheduled Monument Consent must be sought from the Secretary of State for any work that might affect a monument. It is a criminal offence to:
- damage a scheduled monument by carrying out works without consent
- cause reckless or deliberate damage
- use a metal detector or remove an object found with one without a licence from English Heritage
Scheduling opens up opportunities for grant aid from various sources (see English Heritage’s website).
Bradford Metropolitan District has 202 scheduled monuments that range from carved stones to sites of forts.
