| ISSN 1357-4442 | Editor: Simon Denison |
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| UPDATE |
The House of Commons Culture Select Committee this summer published the report of its inquiry into the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The CBA and the Joint Amenity Societies had given evidence to the inquiry and several of their recommendations were reflected in the report.
The report recommended the establishment of a Heritage Forum to develop a new `heritage strategy', in close cooperation with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The body would identify heritage `objectives' for the Government and would ensure that conservation, economic regeneration and sustainability were considered together in national policy. The CBA had called for just such an integrated strategy linking different Government departments.
The report also recommended a joint study by DCMS, DETR and English Heritage of the effectiveness of maintaining Grade I and II* listed buildings, to inform future funding decisions. The CBA and Joint Amenity Societies had told the inquiry of the funding discrepancy between conservation of historic buildings and other areas within DCMS's remit. While £290 million `extra' funding was given to the arts in the Government's recent comprehensive spending review, English Heritage received virtually no extra money. At present, English Heritage has only £5 million a year to give in repair grants for buildings at risk, and £40 million overall in grants to maintain the entire stock of 450,000 listed buildings, a number that grows by 2,000 a year.
An Early Day Motion, drafted by the CBA and introduced in the House of Commons this year by Robert Maclennan, heritage spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, has now attracted the signatures of 50 MPs. These include former ministers Michael Mates and Frank Field, Ken Livingstone, and new Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy.
The motion states: `That this House notes with regret the forthcoming cuts to local government heritage services caused by the local government finance settlement; and recognises that such services communicate the value of archaeology and historic buildings in the nation's economic, cultural and educational life, and that they are fundamental to ensuring that finite cultural inheritance can be enjoyed by present and future generations.'
This summer the English exam boards published five new draft A-level history syllabuses, none of which contained an option for the study of Anglo-Saxon history. The proposals provoked an outcry from some school and university history teachers (see Comment).
The CBA has written to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, drawing attention to the unbalanced emphasis of the syllabuses on 19th and 20th century history. Of 118 period options in all five syllabuses, 59 per cent relate to this most recent period. Only nine per cent deal with history before 1485. There is nothing pre-1042, and nothing for the 14th century - thus abolishing study of Bannockburn, the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt and the milieu of the Canterbury Tales.
The CBA remarked that it seemed inopportune to withdraw the chance to study the formation of the Kingdom of England, at a time when national identities are increasingly in question in a devolved UK. The CBA also noted that without public appreciation and support for our historic environment, surviving remains are in constant threat of demolition and neglect.
At GCSE level, 13 history syllabuses are published for England by four exam boards. All four boards have syllabuses covering the `schools history project' (an eclectic mix, including the American West and apartheid in South Africa), modern world history, and British social and economic history. The extra syllabus is on `themes' in British and world history - all from the 20th century.
Only three syllabuses have period-based options before 1700, all relating to Elizabethan England. Only the four schools history project syllabuses have themes that can take in periods before 1700, notably medicine and crime.
The Government has asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to try to reinstate Anglo-Saxon history in the A-level syllabuses and to review the range of options at GCSE. The timetable for that review has not yet been published.
National Archaeology Days, run by the CBA and the Young Archaeologists' Club, took place in England and Wales in July. 122 sites were open - a record number - including Stonehenge (where the inner circle was open) and Sutton Hoo for the first time. More digs took part than ever before, providing visitors with a chance to try their hand at excavation techniques - including Iron Age Castell Henllys in Pembrokeshire, Roman Silchester, and Anglo-Saxon Whitby Abbey.
Themes ranged from reconstruction and re-enactment, as at Comeston medieval village in Glamorgan, to underwater archaeology, at Hurst Spit in the Solent, and industrial archaeology, for example at Duddon iron furnace in the Lake District. Members of Channel 4's Time Team also took part, with Phil Harding making an appearance at the Roman Legionary Museum at Caerleon.
The Council for Scottish Archaeology is arranging a number of events at sites in Scotland throughout September for `Scottish Archaeology Month'. For information, contact the CSA on 0131 247 4119.
The YAC's annual `archaeological holiday' took place last month at Trewortha Farm on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, led by local archaeologist Tony Blackman. Those taking part tried their hand at Bronze Age crafts such as tin smelting, thatching, potting, and spinning; buildings survey; and landscape archaeology. They also toured sites and monuments and visited an excavation.
UPDATE was compiled this month by Simon Denison
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© Council for British Archaeology, 1999