A Little Depredation? Heritage Crime At Welsh Castles, 1900–2000

Abstract

While much scholarly attention has been devoted to heritage crime at ancient and historical sites over the last thirty years, in Wales the recognition of such activities as discrete historical episodes that are, in their way, just as worthy of the historian's attention as events from the distant past has until recently been lacking. Using the native Welsh masonry castles of north Wales as an example, this article asserts that the activities of graffitists, metal detectorists, and thieves, which hitherto have drawn the attention only of conservators, have valuable things to tell the historian about shifting patterns of use and the way in which the castles signified to successive generations of local people and visitors.