The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 or AMAAA was a law passed by the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

of England & Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own legislation. Section 61(12) defines sites that warrant protection due to their being of national importance as ' ancient monuments'. These can be either

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...

s or "any other

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

which in the opinion of the Secretary of State is of public interest by reason of the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest attaching to it". If an ancient monument is scheduled then it gains additional legal protection. A monument is defined as: Damage to a scheduled monument is a criminal offence and any works taking place within one require scheduled monument consent from the Secretary of State. The Act also provides for taking ancient monuments into the care of the Secretary of State – the concept of 'guardianship' where an ancient monument remains in private ownership but the monument is cared for and (usually) opened to the public by the relevant national heritage body. The Act (in Part II) also introduced the concept of areas of archaeological importance (AAI), city centres of historic significance which receive limited further protection by forcing developers to permit archaeological access prior to building work starting. As of 2004 only five city centres, all in England, have been designated AAIs (

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

). Part II of the Act was never commenced in Scotland. As the provisions in AAIs are limited compared with the requirements that can be made of developers through the

NPPF The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a land-use planning policy in the United Kingdom. It was originally published by the UK's Department of Communities and Local Government in March 2012, consolidating over two dozen previously iss ...

, and formerly its predecessors in PPS5 and PPG16, AAIs have fallen out of use. The law is administered in England by Historic England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, in Scotland by Historic Environment Scotland and in Wales by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

References

External links

*
Historic Scotland Website
– a page about Ancient Monuments of Scotland, which also includes a downloadable copy of the Act. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1979 Archaeology of England Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland Archaeology of Scotland Archaeology of Wales Archaeology law Conservation in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links