Politics and Heritage: Developments in Historic Environment Policy and Practice in Wales

People, places and performance: Reflections on community archaeology and heritage in north-east Wales

“…Nevertheless, the growth of Welsh economic power during the industrial revolution, which led to greater self-confidence in the use of language and other expressions of identity gave impetus to such aspirations. What follows is a summary of the political background to the heritage context (for a full account of this see Belford 2018).…”

“…Although nineteenth-century legislation had introduced 'Inspectors' of ancient monuments this was a very Anglo-centric function until well into the twentieth century. By the time ancient monuments responsibilities had been devolved to the Welsh Office in 1969, a distinctive 'Welsh' approach had emerged along with a Wales-based team of ancient monument Inspectors (Belford 2018). In 1984 Welsh Office historic environment functions were passed to Cadwan agency with different degrees of separation at different (political) timeswhich combined regulatory, conservation and visitor management roles.…”

“…These independent educational charitable trusts carry out much of the day-to-day research and characterization that state heritage agencies undertake elsewhere. Since the incorporation of archaeology into planning legislation in the early 1990s, the WATs also undertake advisory functions which in other parts of the UK are undertaken by local authorities (Belford 2018(Belford , 2020. The relationships between the various actors are shown in Figure 2.…”

“…This historic environment 'tripod' in Wales -Cadw, the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) and the WATsprovides a generally stable and well-co-ordinated framework within which archaeological services and experiences are delivered to the public (Belford 2018). The unique status of the WATs makes them central to the provision of both general public services as well as overtly 'public' programmes of archaeological engagement; their independent institutional status potentially provides greater flexibility.…”

Hidden Earthworks: Excavation and Protection of Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes

“…This case was particularly prominent as it occurred at the beginning of the gestation of what became the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2016. Questions around the protection of scheduled and unscheduled sections of linear earthwork monuments were discussed around the development of the 2016 Act, which happily was able to strengthen some of the protections for scheduled monuments (Belford 2017(Belford , 2018.…”