Memorandum submitted by English Heritage
This submission sets out the strategy, administration
and resources deployed by English Heritage in contributing to
the implementation of the Government's stated policy of preserving
"the best of the . . . maritime heritage".
ENGLISH HERITAGE
1. English Heritage is a non-departmental
public body established under the National Heritage Act 1983 to
help protect the historic environment of England and promote awareness,
understanding and enjoyment of it.
MARITIME HERITAGE
2. "Maritime heritage" is not
well defined. The archaeology of Europe and the place we now call
Britain serves to illustrate our commonality with the continent
rather than our separateness in the millennia before rising sea
levels severed us from the mainland, about 10,000 years ago. But,
ever since, being on an island has been central to our identity.
3. The seas which surround our coasts have
served as a highway as well as a barrier over many centuries and
the numerous shallow estuaries around the coast have been as much
an invitation as an impediment to sea-borne visitors, whether
invader, trader or immigrant. These maritime contacts have given
England its name, and a language and a heritage that connect us
with places on the other side of the North Sea.
4. Maritime heritage falls into two main
parts—that which is terrestrial (either built on land for
example port buildings and docks, or which has finished up on
land, for example silted up river channels) and that which is
marine (either on former dry land now flooded by marine incursions
for example the North Sea, or always under water such as wrecks).
TERRESTRIAL MARITIME
HERITAGE
5. The combination of maritime trade and
naval power—and they are intimately linked—produced
both the Empire and the Industrial Revolution; a chance combination
of circumstances that came together in Britain in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries and changed the history of the world.
It is no surprise that many of the potential new World Heritage
Sites identified in England in 1999 relate directly to this period
of our history. Liverpool—one of the first to be inscribed
by UNESCO—is the supreme example of a commercial port developed
at the time of Britain's greatest global influence, its distinctive
architecture echoing (and in some cases pre-dating) that of the
great cities of the American East Coast. Other significant maritime
built heritage includes the naval dockyards and our great seaside
towns.
6. England's coastal zone contains an important
legacy of historic assets including, in particular, a complex
array of archaeological remains. Many of these fragile and irreplaceable
remains were originally constructed on dry land or stable inlets
and cliff tops. A combination of rising sea levels and maritime
erosion over the centuries and millennia threatens to destroy
many of these sites, and the information about our heritage encapsulated
in them.
ENGLISH HERITAGE
AND TERRESTRIAL
MARITIME HERITAGE
7. English Heritage has had responsibility
for terrestrial maritime heritage since our establishment in 1984.
It has been recognised from the start as a very important sector
of the historic environment and issues relating to conservation
and management of change have been addressed in a number of ways.
— Designation of terrestrial maritime
heritage sites of particular significance, through listing, scheduling,
conservation area designation (by local authorities) and inscription
as World Heritage Sites.
— Investigation of terrestrial maritime
heritage sites through archaeology, historical research and building
survey, and the associated dissemination and publication of the
results, either directly or through financial support.
— Creation, maintenance and dissemination
of databases and archives relating to the historic maritime environment.
— Management of change to significant
terrestrial maritime heritage sites through advice to owners,
local planning authorities, government departments and others
on planning policies, statutory controls, and methods of conservation,
repair and alteration.
— Financial assistance through grant
for the repair and conservation of historic buildings and structures.
— Direct management of a number of
terrestrial maritime heritage sites, principally coastal fortifications
all periods.
8. The range of English Heritage's involvement
in the maritime terrestrial heritage is very wide, extending in
date from Seahenge and the earlier drowned mesolithic and palaeolithic
landscapes of the North Sea, to the 20th century buildings of
Liverpool's waterfront and the impact of modern warship servicing
facilities on the naval dockyards. We have published books on
the development of the naval dockyards in England, surveyed coastal
sites being eroded and lost to the sea, studied seaside towns,
advised on the conservation and presentation of projects such
as the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, helped to develop regeneration
schemes for sites like the Royal William Yard, and grant aided
the repair of waterfront and dock facilities and buildings. Our
own coastal sites such as Tintagel and Pendennis Castle are major
visitor attractions.
9. The terrestrial maritime heritage will
continue to have a high priority for English Heritage, within
our overall priorities and strategies for the historic environment,
and we will continue to commit an appropriate level of resources
to the conservation of and management of change to significant
elements of it.
MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY
10. The seas around Britain contain an immense
wealth of archaeological sites and remains, potentially without
equal elsewhere in the world in terms of their number and diversity.
These remains include extensive submerged landscapes, primarily
relating to the earlier prehistoric period during which Britain
was divorced from mainland Europe by rising sea levels, as well
as remains deriving from the subsequent history of the British
Isles and its inhabitants' exploitation of the sea.
11. Despite their radically different environmental
circumstances, marine and terrestrial archaeological remains provide
a seamless physical and intellectual continuum. As a result of
coastal change, some originally terrestrial sites are now submerged
and some marine sites are now on land; some sites have ambivalent
settings, being situated in the inter-tidal zone and enjoying
marine and dry land environments sequentially; and others extend
from dry land into the sea. Even wholly submerged and discrete
sites, such as shipwrecks, can be considered to be part of wider
maritime cultural landscapes that also embrace the yards where
they were constructed, the ports they served and the defences
erected against them.
ENGLISH HERITAGE
AND MARINE
ARCHAEOLOGY
12. Despite this rich maritime history—and
in contrast to the situation in the devolved administrations of
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—English Heritage, the
lead agency responsible for managing the physical remains of the
historic environment in England, did not (prior to 2002) have
responsibility for marine archaeology within its territorial sea.
However this has been remedied by the National Heritage Act (2002),
which extends English Heritage's remit to include ancient monuments
in, on or under the seabed to the 12-mile limit around England.
13. The National Heritage Act (2002) modified
our functions to include securing the preservation of ancient
monuments in, on, or under the seabed, and promoting the public's
enjoyment of, and advancing their knowledge of ancient monuments,
in, on, or under the seabed. It increased English heritage's area
of responsibility by 70% and brought in whole new areas of work
such as undersea pipelines. Following the passing of the Act the
Government transferred to English Heritage funding of £340K
an year, the amount they were spending on administering the responsibilities
for marine archaeology they were transferring to us; they supplemented
this with a further ring-fenced £200K a year increase in
English heritage's grant-in-aid to cover wider issues. Both these
sums were recognised as being inadequate for the needs of marine
archaeology at the time and have not been increased since.
14. Since June 2002 we have established
a Maritime Archaeology Team with responsibilities for:
— administering DCMS's Advisory Committee
on Historic Wreck Sites;
— managing the Government contract
for archaeological services in support of the Protection of Wrecks
Act 1973;
— administering funds to provide signs
and buoyage for Designated Wreck Sites;
— promoting the physical management
of England's 41 Designated Wreck Sites;
— participating in the DCMS Review
of Heritage Protection marine consultation;
— setting up a framework to ensure,
as far as possible, that marine development consultations take
account of the marine historic environment.
15. In a relatively short period the English
Heritage Maritime Archaeology Team has raised the profile of maritime
archaeology within English Heritage and externally.
16. We propose to maintain our current approach,
within the broad framework of our policy document Taking to
the Water. As English Heritage Commissioners have recognised,
the funding levels provided to English Heritage for maritime archaeology
in 2002 do not allow for the implementation of all Taking to
the Water policies and initiatives. We need, therefore, to
pursue every opportunity for additional resource; in particular
by standard setting, increasing awareness and enjoyment of the
maritime environment, and promoting the sense of responsibility
of Government departments and agencies, and industries whose activities
impact upon it.
ENGLISH HERITAGE
AND HISTORIC
SHIPS
17. Historic ships (in common with other
historic vehicles) have never enjoyed statutory designation. Uniquely
in England the Cutty Sark (grounded and never likely to
move again) is listed Grade I. Three other ships (HMS Trincomalee,
SS Great Britain, and HMS Warrior) have been judged
to be ancient monuments for grant purposes, though they were never
scheduled. Some historic wreck sites on land, which include in
some cases the remains of vessels, have been scheduled. English
Heritage has funded a number of excavations of such vessels, and
the associated preservation of surviving elements of the vessel,
such as the Roman boat excavated some years ago at Dover.
18. When it was set up English Heritage
was willing to consider grant aid for the repair and conservation
of ships, and in the period 1984 to 1992 we offered grant aid
for the repair of at least three. In 1992, triggered by a large
grant application from the Cutty Sark, we reviewed our
policy on grant aiding ships in the light of our then financial
resources and demand from our core business of the built historic
environment. We decided to stop grant aiding ships, putting them
on all fours with other types of transport. The reasons for doing
so were primarily resource driven; we were having to turn down
many applications to our grant schemes because of the overall
level; of demand, we were grant aiding ships on a first come first
served basis without any overall assessment of need and without
having a significant impact on the overall problem of historic
ship conservation, and ships were seen as secondary to our core
business. The subsequent launch of the HLF has provided a major
new source of funding for ships, on a scale which vastly outweighs
anything we have been able to do in the past or are likely to
be able to do in the future.
19. In 2002 English Heritage agreed to support
a three year research project (in partnership with the National
Maritime Museum and the National Historic Ships Committee) to
develop the national database of historic ships and in particular
to provide better information on conservation plans, financial
viability, and sustainability in the context of access, education,
regeneration and skills preservation. This was seen as complementary
to our new responsibilities for maritime archaeology. It is intended
to provide more authoritative guidance to other funding bodies
and a better informed debate with government. The study has now
been completed and produced by the NHSC and the NMM as The Shipping
Forecast. We understand that the NHSC will be giving evidence
to the Committee and we will leave it to them to set out the detailed
results of the survey.
20. The recent spending round has been a
tough one for English Heritage in common with other DCMS sponsored
bodies. We have seen an effective cut of 6.3% in our grant-in-aid
in real terms over the three year period 2005 to 2008, and this
comes after an already difficult period when we have had to cut
some activities significantly. Against this background there is
no likelihood of English Heritage being in a position to offer
any new assistance for the preservation of historic ships.
21. Over a year ago the DCMS issued a consultation
document on government policy for the protection of historic ships.
In our response we strongly endorsed the government's proposal
to establish a Historic Ships Unit within the National Maritime
Museum. We are not aware of any action from the government since
the completion of the consultation. We would welcome the implementation
of this proposal which would provide the policy focus for historic
ship preservation which is now lacking and which English Heritage
cannot provide.
28 January 2005
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