English Heritage’s Mark Dunkley (Maritime Designation Advisor) and Paul Jeffery (Team Leader) look at how to achieve integrated marine management.

As with the elemental being of Shakespeare’s Ariel, the historic environment is all around us; even within the ooze of the seabed! Comprising some 37,374 known wrecks (of which just 46 are protected) and recorded shipping casualties within the territorial sea as well as ditched and crashed aircraft and submerged prehistoric archaeological sites and find spots, effective management of England’s maritime archaeological remains requires co-operation, partnership and suitable measures for its protection.

In addition to fully submerged remains, many buildings and monuments have maritime associations, such as the early 19th-century Royal Navy dockyards (which were the largest industrial complexes in the country at the time of their construction), lighthouses and seamarks.

Further, the National Register of Historic Vessels (maintained by the Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships) contains over 1,200 registered vessels, of which 250 are of special significance, including the Victorian sloop HMS Gannet and the 20th-century Royal Yacht Britannia, which are considered part of the National Historic Fleet. Some of these vessels are curated as museum exhibits.

As an island nation, it is impossible to separate our maritime heritage from the remains of our historic highs and lows on land. Much of our wealth came directly from the fruits of the sea or was the result of trade and military endeavour across it.

With such a wealth of sites and monuments, English Heritage is devising new approaches to managing the country’s maritime cultural heritage in response to more holistic and integrated practices, supported by new legislation, policy and guidance.

Background

English Heritage is the UK Government’s statutory advisor on the historic environment in England and functions relating to underwater archaeology derive from the National Heritage Act 2002, which redefined the term 'ancient monument’ to include ancient monuments in, on, or under the seabed within the 12 nautical mile limit of the UK territorial sea adjacent to England.

The policy background to English Heritage’s approach to the marine historic environment is framed by the UK Government’s adoption of the Annex (rules concerning activities directed at underwater cultural heritage) to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage as best practice for underwater archaeology.

At sea, English Heritage is supportive of the High Level Marine Objectives (Our seas – a shared resource) published in 2009 by the UK Government and Devolved Administrations which demonstrates a commitment to an "effective, integrated and strategic management of human activities in the marine environment". We see these objectives as an essential step in the process of actively seeking ‘to increase our understanding of the marine environment, its natural processes and our cultural marine heritage and the impact that human activities have upon them" (source: Defra 2005, Safeguarding Sea Life: the joint UK response to the Review of Marine Nature Conservation). Consequently, we value the recent attention paid to marine heritage within the pre-consultation on the draft UK Marine Policy Statement (March 2010).

Clearly, there is opportunity for efficient use to be made of co-ordinated, and where possible, joint action to deliver effective marine management.

Heritage protection reform

Despite Parliamentary delay of the Heritage Protection Bill, we know that Government remains committed to the historic environment and intends to introduce legislation at the earliest opportunity. This commitment was shown most recently in the publication of Planning Policy Statement 5 (PPS5: Department of Communities and Local Government, March 2010) and the ‘Vision’ for England’s historic environment (see http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/pps5).

Here, English Heritage recommends that the policies and guidance associated with PPS5, particularly those related to determining significance and special interest, applies to the whole historic environment particularly as the ‘Vision’ for England’s historic environment emphasises the duty to manage the heritage for present and future generations.

English Heritage has already implemented a series of initiatives through a Heritage Protection Reform program to commence improvement of the designation system without the need for primary legislation (see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1368). The marine aspects of the implementation strategy are being undertaken by a Maritime Designation Advisor, appointed to initiate and lead project planning and management to support and implement key maritime projects. This is a significant part of a wider move within EH to make maritime heritage an integral part of what we do regionally, territorially and nationally. This has already led to a wider understanding and better representation of all forms of heritage both for considering protection and in determining appropriate management options.

There will be future reforms to the management structure of maritime heritage too, not least in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s contribution to operational efficiency and smarter Government savings outlined in March’s Budget. Here, rationalisation of the Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships and the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites is expected.

Bringing together natural environment and heritage designations

As the significance of a heritage feature, or asset (to use terminology from PPS5), may be considered as the sum of its cultural and natural heritage values, work has recently been undertaken to  bring together natural environment designations and cultural heritage in the protection of the historic environment. Recent casework in South-west England has shown that natural environment designations (such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest) can be effective in affording protection from interference to below-ground archaeological remains. The success of such work has demonstrated the flexibility of current designations to accommodate local management of significant places.

Moving seaward, the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 provides some measure of protection to features of historic and archaeological interest in inshore waters. Four areas of the 2009 Act are most relevant to the historic environment: planning and licensing; marine conservation zones; inshore fisheries and conservation authorities; and coastal access.

English Heritage is working hard with Defra to facilitate more efficient and sustainable protection of all marine resources, including an improvement in the way the marine environment is protected and managed, inclusive of cultural heritage underwater.

Conclusion

It is estimated that more than two-thirds of the changes set out in the 2007 White Paper (Heritage Protection for the 21st Century, DCMS 2007) can be implemented without new legislation. In addition, opportunities presented through the Marine & Coastal Heritage Act 2009 are enabling us to devise new ways to protect and manage the marine historic environment.

Whatever happens, changes to the ways in which England’s maritime heritage is enjoyed, understood, valued, and conserved is in progress, and both local and interest group engagement will be at the heart of this process.

Authors:
Mark Dunkley (Maritime Designation Advisor) & Paul Jeffery (Team Leader)
Heritage Protection Department
English Heritage
1 Waterhouse Square
138-142 Holborn
London, England
EC1N 2ST