Heritage and Archaeology – Page 5
Heritage significance, harm tests, listed building consent and archaeological evidence.
Heritage and Archaeology articles – page 5
210 articlesWaterlogged deposits and palaeoenvironmental evidence
Waterlogged deposits survive only while they stay wet, so dewatering matters as much as excavation. This covers deposit models, sampling strategies, the specialists involved and what a reviewer should check.
Preservation in situ as a design constraint
Where archaeological remains must stay in the ground, the foundation strategy changes. This looks at piling layouts, rafts, raised levels, dewatering risk and the evaluation evidence an engineer needs.
Wall paintings and finishes discovered during works
A concealed painting changes the consent you are working to. What to do in the first hour, who to tell, why there is no non-material amendment route for listed building consent, and how to price the risk.
Ecclesiastical exemption and what it actually covers
The ecclesiastical exemption removes listed building consent for named denominations, for the church building, while it is in ecclesiastical use. Planning permission is untouched by it.
Setting of a listed building and the area of influence
Setting has no fixed extent, so the study area has to be argued. The five step approach, how to build an area of influence from visibility, history and fieldwork, and what to record.
Repointing a listed building and the mortar question
Like-for-like repointing is repair. Changing the mortar or the joint profile is alteration that needs listed building consent. How to choose a lime mix, match the original and write a specification a builder can price.
Trial trenching sample rates and how they are agreed
Trial trenching is a sample agreed in advance with the county archaeologist. The percentage matters less than where the trenches go and why.
Demolition in a conservation area and the consent needed
Conservation area consent was abolished in 2013. Demolition now needs planning permission, the criminal offence came across with it, and a replacement scheme is expected.
Less than substantial harm and the balancing exercise
Less than substantial harm is weighed against public benefits, but great weight and the statutory duty put a thumb on the scales. Here is how to write the balance properly.
Scheduled monument consent: procedure and timescales
Scheduled monument consent comes from the Secretary of State, not your council, and covers works no planning application would capture. Unauthorised works are a criminal offence.
Shopfront security shutters in a historic street
Solid external shutters fail the conservation area test almost everywhere. Internal grilles, demountable options and open mesh are the routes that get consent, if the details are right.
Archaeology in urban cellars and basement schemes
Existing cellars both destroy and seal archaeological deposits. Deposit modelling, truncation evidence and groundwater effects decide what a council asks for on a basement scheme.
Building recording as mitigation for total loss
Recording preserves information, not the asset. National policy says the ability to record is not a factor in deciding whether loss should be permitted.
Internal partitions and plan form in a listed building
Plan form is part of a listed building's special interest, so internal works can cause harm without removing any decorative joinery. Reading the plan comes before designing.
Sash window repair against replacement on a listed house
Repair is the policy starting point for historic sash windows. The application that succeeds shows, window by window, what is wrong and why the proposed action is the least that works.
Render removal on historic walls and the breathability case
Removing render from a listed or historic solid wall turns on two questions: is the render part of the special interest, and is it doing measurable harm?
Heritage statement for a rear extension on a listed cottage
A rear extension on a listed cottage needs consent and a statement that ranks what is special, explains the junction with the old fabric, and is honest about harm.
Laser scanning and photogrammetry before demolition
Scanning captures geometry, photogrammetry captures surface. Neither is a record on its own, because a recording condition asks for an analytical document.
Lime mortar specification in a consent application
Repoint in lime mortar to match existing tells a conservation officer nothing. What the specification, the analysis and the joint detail need to cover.
Replacing a historic shopfront: the consents involved
A shopfront scheme on a historic building usually needs three consents assessed on three different tests. Signage and security shutters cause most of the refusals.
Secondary glazing and insulation in a listed building
Secondary glazing usually needs listed building consent and usually gets it. Internal wall insulation is the intervention that does real damage when the detailing is wrong.
Discharging an archaeological condition: the written scheme
The written scheme of investigation is the specification everything else is measured against. What it must cover, how long approval takes and how to avoid the archive trap.
Geophysical survey: when it earns its place
Geophysics costs little per hectare and only saves money when the ground suits it. What magnetometry misses, when resistivity or radar is the better tool, and the four questions to ask first.
Trial trench sampling percentages and how to justify them
There is no national standard for trial trench coverage. The curator sets it from the desk study and geophysics, which makes the sample and the layout negotiable.
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