Heritage and Archaeology – Page 2
Heritage significance, harm tests, listed building consent and archaeological evidence.
Heritage and Archaeology articles – page 2
210 articlesDendrochronology and dating evidence for a building
Dendrochronology gives a felling date, not a construction date. Commission it when the date is genuinely disputed and the answer would change the significance argument, because a share of samples return nothing.
Geophysical survey methods and which suits your site
Magnetometry is fast on chalk and gravel but defeated by made ground and steel fences. Radar finds masonry and fails on clay. Resistance sees both, when the season gives it a moisture contrast.
Historic England pre-application advice: when to buy it
Paid heritage advice earns its fee where Historic England will be a statutory consultee and the design still has options. How to frame the questions and use the reply.
What evidence a council needs for an Article 4 direction
Article 4 directions must rest on located evidence of harm and cover the smallest area possible. The justification national policy expects, the procedure, the compensation trap and the routes to challenge.
Treasure Act duties when a find appears on a building site
The duty to report treasure sits with the finder and runs whether or not the site has an archaeological condition. What qualifies, the 14 day deadline, ownership and reward, and the site documents that prevent disputes.
Setting assessments for tall buildings near heritage assets
A tower changes the setting of assets you cannot see from the site. How to scope the study area, agree the view list, show the cumulative case and present harm the way a committee will test it.
Archaeology on a brownfield site with made ground
On urban brownfield sites the question is how much archaeology survives and at what depth, not whether it is there. Deposit modelling, cellars, combined fieldwork and the sequence that protects the programme.
Thatch, lime and traditional materials in consent decisions
Material choice decides listed building consent applications more often than design does. Lime against cement, thatch types and ridges, timber and glass specification, and the evidence conservation officers accept.
Heritage at risk and the funding routes for repairs
Being on the Heritage at Risk Register is the precondition for most repair funding in England rather than an entitlement to it. Grant conditions, deficit calculations and the sequence that works.
Solar panels and heat pumps on a listed building
Solar panels and heat pumps on a listed building need consent whenever they affect special interest, even where permitted development covers the planning side. Position, fixings and reversibility decide most cases.
Repair and maintenance of a listed building
Repair to a listed building needs no consent; alteration does. The boundary turns on materials and technique, and repointing is where most owners cross it without realising.
Shopfront alterations in a conservation area
A shopfront refit in a conservation area can involve planning permission, advertisement consent and listed building consent. The refusals turn on fascia depth, stallrisers and shutters.
Burials on a development site: consents, cost and programme
A former burial ground is an archaeological risk measured in seasons rather than weeks. The licence, the excavation and the reburial all sit on the critical path.
Archaeological priority areas and what they require
A mapped archaeological priority area is a local designation, not a statutory one. It triggers assessment at validation and usually a written scheme of investigation by condition.
The four heritage values in a significance statement
Conservation Principles uses four heritage values while the Framework uses four interests. How to run both vocabularies in one statement, grade contribution by element and keep the harm section short.
What archaeological geophysical survey finds and misses
Geophysics is a screening tool that makes trial trenching smarter rather than unnecessary. Which method suits which ground, what interference masks, and why a negative survey proves less than clients hope.
Trial trenching: sampling strategy and coverage
There is no statutory trenching percentage. What drives the figure in a curator's brief, why targeted trenching alone is rarely accepted, and how to programme it.
Curtilage listing and which outbuildings are covered
Section 1(5) of the 1990 Act treats pre-1948 structures in the curtilage as part of the listed building. What that catches, how to evidence it, and why there is no certificate that settles it.
Substantial harm and where the threshold sits
Substantial harm means the significance of the asset is drained away or very much reduced. Serious, regrettable harm can still fall below that line.
Section 72 duty in a conservation area application
Section 72 asks for special attention to character and appearance across the whole area. A scheme that does no harm meets the duty without having to improve anything.
Section 66 duty and the setting of a listed building
Section 66 gives the preservation of a listed building and its setting considerable importance and weight. It applies even where no listed building consent is needed.
Lime render, thatch and traditional material conditions
Materials conditions on listed building consents exist because cement on a soft wall causes damage within a few winters. Here is how to specify lime and thatch properly and get the sample panel approved.
Heritage at risk and the case for consent to alter
National policy disregards deterioration caused by deliberate neglect. How to build a credible condition, cost and viability case for altering a building on the at risk register.
Reading a historic farmstead before you convert it
Significance in a farmstead sits in the plan form, the working volumes and the pattern of openings. How to read a threshing barn, date its openings and judge group value.
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