Issue 63

February 2002

Contents

news

Glastonbury lake village and prehistoric tracks ‘drying out’

Rare Bronze Age metal working site found on Eigg

Log boat from Tay estuary dated to the later Bronze Age

Archaeologists uncover history of the Royal Arsenal

Hidden collection of cross slabs at Co Durham church

In Brief

features

Commanders and Kings
Tony Wilmott on how post-Roman kingdoms were formed

People of the Sea
Barry Cunliffe on the lure of the sea from earliest prehistory

Great sites
Julien Parsons on 19th century excavations at Belas Knap

letters

On defleshing, ancient roofs, plague and conservation

issues

David Baker on regulation of developer-funded archaeology

Peter Ellis

Regular column

books

London Under Ground edited by Ian Haynes, Harvey Sheldon and Lesley Hannigan

Northumberland: the Power of Place by Stan Beckensall

Archaeology and the Social History of Ships by Richard Gould

Prehistoric and Roman Essex by James Kemble

Landscape Detective by Richard Muir

A Fortified Frontier by Iain MacIvor

CBA update

favourite finds

Memories of Callanish. Aubrey Burl had a ‘eureka’ moment in pondering Callanish.

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Simon Denison

CBA update

Campaigns and reports from the CBA

Fine words but few promises in Government policy statement on the Historic Environment

The Government's long-awaited statement, The Historic Environment: A Force for our Future, was published just before Christmas, coinciding with the Planning Green Paper (writes George Lambrick). Although limited to England, the issues apply to the whole of the UK, and the Government says it will maintain discussions with the devolved administrations. A Force for our Future sets out some very welcome broad principles for future policy, many of which the CBA has been championing for several years, but as expected (Issues, December), there is little indication whether - or when - much-needed resources will become available to fulfil the 54 Action Points.

On the issue of responsibility, there is a welcome commitment for Government departments to become more responsible for how their activities affect the historic environment, including their management of Crown land. Similar proposals apply to local authorities, but there is nothing about making local authority services statutory. And it is not clear how these responsibilities will be resourced.

Sound knowledge and information are rightly seen as essential foundations of policy, and English Heritage is to undertake an audit of the state of the historic environment and frame a coordinated approach to research. There will be a consultation paper on the future of SMRs later this year.

On the issue of education, the contribution that the historic environment can make to life-long learning is clearly recognised, including the need to establish better education opportunities and training. But the CBA is concerned that well-meaning ideas to create a national historic environment week and to provide free access to historic sites for schoolchildren could cut across the distinct identity of National Archaeology Days and the free and discounted access scheme already available for children who join the Young Archaeologists' Club.

The statement offers nothing on thorny issues like the period bias of the secondary-school history curriculum, the cost of school trips or the annual squeeze on local authority archaeological outreach services.

On the issue of access, the Government envisages more use of historic characterisation and more community involvement to ensure proper recognition of what people value locally, and also more action to tackle exclusion issues. There is also welcome recognition of the need to support the voluntary sector to help involve people, and provide digital information services - all areas where the CBA has much to offer. But there is little recognition of the existing breadth of work by the voluntary sector; while the specific proposal to 'respond to people's needs' by extending the Blue Plaques scheme seems very paltry.

On the issue of conservation, the principle of timely maintenance of historic buildings and places is endorsed. But the proposal to shift grants from repairs to maintenance rather than doing more to reform VAT regulations - as demanded by all heritage bodies including the CBA - suggests a lack of Treasury backing behind the principles of sustainability that the statement avows.

There is a commitment to maintain an effective framework of statutory protection, including the planning policy guidance notes PPG15 (on historic buildings) and 16 (on archaeology). But this commitment falls within proposals for a radical overhaul of planning and statutory regimes, in which the PPGs and at least some legislation will be rewritten. It remains to be seen whether this marks a real commitment to improve quality of decision-making, or if conservation will be watered down by the resolve to cut costs and red-tape.

The statement repeats the Government's welcome commitment to shift agricultural subsidies away from production towards more environmentally responsible farming. It recognises DEFRA's responsibilities for heritage conservation as being equal with landscape quality, biodiversity, recreation and amenity. But with English Heritage answering separately to DCMS, this commitment has yet to be reflected in DEFRA's resources and practical operations.

Under two short sections on 'Archaeology' and 'Marine Archaeology' there are commitments to implement the recommendations of the Treasure Act review and to establish English Heritage's responsibility for English maritime archaeology, but little else. An explicit welcome of the growth of professional archaeology is not balanced by a broader overview of what should follow ratification of the Valletta Convention (see Briefing, December).

The economic benefits of the historic environment for tourism, regeneration, good design, employment and the conservation industry are recognised, but with no substantive proposals to increase obligations and resources for authorities to enforce best practice.

A Force for our Future offers a valuable breadth of vision and potentially much to build on. But it betrays a lack of proper understanding in Whitehall of what the non-government sector is already doing, and of how archaeology - the way we discover, explore and understand the historic environment - contributes to the broader picture. There is no timetable for implementation, and the real test will be whether the fine sentiments turn into effective, properly resourced action.

Young Archaeologist of 2001

The winners of the Young Archaeologist of the Year Award 2001 were announced at the Crossness Beam Engine Museum in December last year (writes Lorraine Bathurst).

The winners, Sian Rigby, age nine from Shropshire, and Alex Anderson, age 13 from West Yorkshire, and their families were given a guided tour of the Grade I listed building, before the winners were awarded their certificates and archaeological prizes. The awards were sponsored by Thames Water.

The Young Archaeologist of the Year Award (then known as the Young Rescue Award) began in 1978. This year participants were asked to write a report connecting water and archaeology. The large number of high quality entries from across Britain ranged from shipwrecks and underwater archaeology to the ceremonial use of rivers and lakes.

The support from Thames Water enabled the Young Archaeologists' Club to provide the winners with prizes including an all-expenses-paid overnight stay in London. Peter Spillett, Environment and Quality Manager for Thames Water, said: 'Given the importance of archaeology in the work we do - protecting archaeological remains as part of our capital programme or managing heritage sites across the Thames Valley - we were delighted to sponsor these awards. The entries showed a wealth of enthusiasm and interest in archaeology from young people, which is vital to encourage if we are to protect our heritage in the future.'

Success of britarch.ac.uk

Access statistics for the CBA's web site, www.britarch.ac.uk, continued to climb in 2001, with overall 'hits' - files downloaded when someone views a web page - up to three and a half million (from 2,360,000 in 2000) and page impressions - the number of web pages viewed - up to 1,680,000 (from 983,000 in 2000). The pages were accessed from over 190,000 computer hosts, representing a greater number of individual visitors.

The most visited sections of the web site continue to be the online text for British Archaeology and Briefing, and also the CBA guide to UK archaeology online which details links to other relevant web sites for British archaeology. The web pages for the Defence of Britain project, and the British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography were also popular. The CBA now has its own web server and a number of new online services are planned for 2002.

CBA meetings and Stonehenge

The dates for the CBA General Meetings for 2002 are 21 February in York and 28 September in London. Meeting papers will be distributed with the preceding issues of British Archaeology.

At the AGM in 2001 the CBA's first Honorary Members were elected. Jean Dagnell, Roy Friendship-Taylor and Vernon Radcliffe are all long-standing CBA supporters who had been active through the Regional Group network. Frances Griffith, County Archaeologist for Devon, was elected as an Honorary Vice-President.

The CBA will hold a meeting to discuss the Stonehenge road proposals on 27 February at the British Academy in London.

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