Current Initiatives to Address Heritage Crime in the UK

Abstract

Policy makers have generally assumed that the preservation of architectural heritage is underpinned by a day-to-day management consensus driven by virtuous intentions that are positive and enthusiastic at best, and benign at worst. Until quite recently, little attention or concern was paid to the need for penalties as a deterrent to deliberate defacement and illegal demolition. Sanctions to address mutilation or loss of historic buildings were left largely to local authorities and were under used. A current initiative involving a number of additional key agencies intends to provide a much better coordinated national and local response to the problem. Although this initiative also encompasses archaeology, this paper focuses on the aspects related to architectural heritage crime.