Monuments Protection Programme Research Articles

Protecting the Egyptian monuments: Fundamentals of proficiency

The Egyptian culture is unique with its diverse facets of monuments, literature, folkloric dancing and music. In discussing strategies to protect this legacy, monuments stand out as a prime constituent of Egyptian culture under a vicious attack of threats. In response, Egyptian monuments call for immediately sound and implementable protection endeavors. Under this claim, a proficient strategy reveals itself in devising a comprehensive programme to review and evaluate Egyptian’s archaeological resources and – at the same time- enhance the conservation, management and appreciation of the Egyptian monumental heritage. Such a programme is commonly known as the: ‘Monuments Protection Programme: MPP’ and can be drawn into a series of steps forming a path and further into a series of actions that would enhance the resultant benefits. The purpose of this paper is to conjure up and analyze the various steps leading to an efficient and comprehensive Egyptian MPP. The paper follows a multidisciplinary approach taking into consideration various criteria on the historic and socio-cultural levels. The final aim of the paper is to comprehensively set the proficiency fundamentals for a successful implementation of the MPP while conveying the essence of conservation.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GLASS INDUSTRY: THE MONUMENTS PROTECTION

This article presents an overview of the archaeology of the glass industry in Britain from the Roman period to the 20th century. It is based upon work undertaken in 1992–3 for the English Heritage Monuments Protection Programme (MPP) and revised later in that decade, with additions to take account of the developer-funded archaeological work undertaken in recent years. It concentrates on the development of technology in the charcoal- and coal-fired glass industries and contains descriptions of sites and terminology.

Cold War Heritage and the Conservation of Military Remains in Yorkshire1

Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in the future of military remains created in the UK since 1945. This interest has been sparked by debates that have taken place in archaeology, heritage management and conservation. Our purpose in this article is to intersect with these discussions and practice in a number of ways. First the article sets the discussion of Cold War military sites into the wider context of the rise of military archaeology and heritage conservation more generally. Second, it reviews some of the literature relating to Cold War heritage, both in terms of land management and reuse, but more centrally as a potential national heritage asset. Third, it outlines how this potential asset is managed currently within the heritage protection system and the heritage challenges posed by these remains, particularly the attempts which have been made to incorporate them into a mainstream heritage agenda. Finally, the paper considers the successes and limitations of heritage conservation strategies, under the auspices of the Cold War Monuments Protection Programme (MPP).

D-Day sites in England: an assessment

Between midnight on 6 June (D-Day) and 30 June 1944, over 850,000 men landed on the invasion beachheads of Normandy, together with nearly 150,000 vehicles and 570,000 tons ofsupplies. Assembled in camps and transit areas over the preceding months, this force was dispatched from a string of sites along Britain's coastline between East Anglia and South Wales (Dobinson 1996: 2). The article reviews those sites in England involved in this embarkation. English Heritage's Monuments Protection Programme (MPP) aims to identify surviving sites and recommend appropriate protection for them.

What is Aught, but as 'tis Valued? An analysis of strategies for the assessment of cultural heritage significance in New Zealand

A clear strategy for assessing the significance of historic places is a prerequisite for effective cultural resource management. This paper reviews the context for significance assessment, examines the criteria and framework for its operation and identifies specific areas of imbalance and under-performance relating to the classification, assessment and evaluation of historic places in New Zealand. A comparative analysis of the Monuments Protection Programme (England) indicates considerable potential for the introduction of selective elements of the English system to New Zealand. This report makes a number of recommendations to improve the system for assessing the significance of historic heritage and then considers the wider implications of its impact on management priorities and operating systems.The issues raised unequivocally demonstrate the need for a comprehensive review of the strategic options for cultural resource management in New Zealand, together with an explicit statement of commitment to historic heritage.

The Evidence for a Pre-Viking Church Adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon Barrow at Taplow, Buckinghamshire

This paper results from a routine inspection by the authors during the course of English Heritage's Monuments Protection Programme (cf. e.g. Wainwright 1993, 25–31 Discoveries of new information and new interpretations of known sites are frequent outcomes of MPP research, and consideration is currently being given to publicising such discoveries systematically. The discovery of the church at Taplow, however, is perhaps one of the more significant recent finds and, as such, merits more immediate public discussion.

Identifying and protecting historic landscapes

Six years ago, Darvill and colleagues reported (ANTIQUITY 61: 393–408) on the Monuments Protection Programme, a new English initiative to build, from a century of haphazard acts of site protection, a set of balanced judgements and priorities by which to recognize ancient places that are more precious, genuinely of a national importance. The Programme, they tell ANTIQUITY, has now completed the first-stage review of information in local sites and monuments records and is proceeding with the identification of nationally important monuments in every English county. This further paper reports on how the Monuments Protection Programme is addressing landscapes, as distinct from ‘spot sites’ with clear limits, where the matters of defining a ‘relict cultural landscape’ and judging relative value are harder.

The management of change: archaeology and planning

For over a century there have been arrangements in England for the “scheduling” (i.e. identification for protection) of ancient monuments. Central government consent is required for any works to Scheduled sites or monuments. Essentially sites and monuments have to be of national archaeological significance to merit scheduling; nonstatutory criteria have been defined for that purpose and over 13,000 have so far been scheduled. These represent only a small proportion of known archaeological sites, the total of which in England is currently put at over 600,000. English Heritage are currently engaged on a comprehensive survey programme, known as the Monuments Protection Programme, which is expected to result in a significant increase in the numbers of monuments qualifying for scheduling, perhaps raising the total to some 60,000 by the end of the decade.

Industrial Monuments: A Protection Programme

Abstract This article considers the Monuments Protection Programme, initiated by English Heritage in 1986, in relation to policies concerning industrial monuments. Particular reference is made to recent work aimed to achieve stronger protection of sites relating to the non-ferrous metals industry, and especially upland lead mines and smelters. Occasional reference is made to the wordlists compiled in the tin and copper industries. Through the Ironbridge Institute, the writer (working jointly with Barrie Trinder) has been involved in consultancy work for the MPP to compile wordlists and databases. He is a member of a small working party, established by the Industrial Archaeology Sub-Committee of English Heritage, to consider the remains of the lead mining industry.

Priority scores for archaeological evaluation

The new Monuments Protection Programme (Darvill et al. 1987; the November 1987 ANTIQUITY) will depend heavily on scoring systems to assess the relative value of different monuments and areas. Here are some comments by someone else with experience of scoring sites.

Appendix Draft description of Moats as a class for the Monuments Protection Programme

Appendix Draft description of Moats as a class for the Monuments Protection Programme

A question of national importance: approaches to the evaluation of ancient monuments for the Monuments Protection Programme in England

When General Pitt-Rivers was appointed as first Inspector under the 1882 Act, which first protected British Ancient Monuments, the Act's Schedule named just 50 sites nationally. Although many monuments have been added to the Schedule since then, the growth in knowledge of the long and intensive occupation of England has been such that the current total of nearly 13,000 scheduled monuments amounts to only 1 in 50 of the sites thought to exist.In matters of monument protection, Britain lies somewhere in the middle: well short of the promised land, as we see it, of Denmark where effective protection goes out from the spot site to include its environs; but well ahead of, for example, the USA where respect for a landowner's formal rights of property is so strong that there is still no Federal protection for monuments in private ownership.English Heritage feels that now is the time to put the Schedule of protected monuments, as it has grown over the years, into rational shape. The present Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Andrew Saunders, and his colleagues explain why and how.