New Guidance for 2008/07

This guidance is intended for householders and other building owners considering installing microgeneration equipment on their property, which may affect the historic environment. It is also aimed at those, including local authority development control planners and building control staff and their historic environment advisers, involved in control of householder planning applications and building control approvals.

This document sets out the English Heritage policy on the investigation and recording of historic buildings within the English planning framework. It provides advice on how a specialist understanding of the significance of an historic building and of its constituent parts, can inform a development proposal or scheme of works and assist in the decision-making process.

Following the consultation process (subject to final editing) English Heritage’s updated Policy and Guidance on Enabling Development and the Conservation of Significant Places includes a short synopsis of the principal differences between the existing and new edition. Publication of the final document is due in Autumn 2008. It should be stressed that the policy approach itself has not changed, although its wording has been updated to align with our Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance for the Sustainable management of the historic environment (April 2008). The guidance has been updated to reflect practical experience, changing legislation, some Planning Inspectorate decisions, and the terminology of the Principles, Policies and Guidance.

Enabling Development: principal changes between 2001 publication and 2008 post-consultation final draft

This document has been prepared by the Minerals and Historic Environment Forum as an aid to planning authorities, mineral planners, mineral operators, archaeologists and consultants. It provides guidance specifically for dealing with archaeological remains as part of mineral development through the planning process.

Guidelines to help archaeologists, curators, consultants and project managers to better understand techniques of geophysical survey

Conservation Principles Policies and Guidance April 08

This paper is the first in a series of information guides aimed at providing “easy to understand” advice on the most appropriate conservation and installation principles for incorporating building services into historic or traditionally constructed buildings, many of which will be listed.

This guide is one of a series on small-scale renewable energy options. Separate guides look at generation, solar energy, bio-fuels, heat pumps and combined heat and power, explaining how each system works and what you need to consider if you wish to install it in or on a historic building.

This guide is one of a series examining options for the small-scale generation of renewable energy.

Using case studies this guidance sets out ways in which the historic environment can contribute to the development of Local Area Agreements (LAAs).

Heritage Champions provide leadership, help join up policy and strategy across departments and, by encouraging a greater focus on the historic environment, bring significant benefits for a Local Authority and its community.

Thatch and Thatching: a guidance note

This document forms part of a wider initiative to assess the state of all designated historic assets and to understand their current management patterns, their likely future trajectory and how that can be influenced to ensure their significance is maintained for both present and future generations.

This document sets out the English Heritage position on mineral extraction and the high-level policies that will form the basis for responses and views put forward by English Heritage on any matter relating to the winning, working and safeguarding of minerals. Its principal purpose is to guide the work of English Heritage, but it will also be of interest to the wider historic environment sector, government, local authorities, the minerals industry and other organisations that care for the environment.

The lead mining remains of Derbyshire and the Peak District are of national importance for their ecological, archaeological, historical, geological and landscape value, as well as providing opportunities for recreation and enjoyment which are valued by many people. Many of the surface remains have been lost over time and important surviving remains need to be safeguarded for the future.

The Standard Assessment Procedure or SAP for short is the UK’s chosen method for complying with the European Directive on energy-labelling of domestic buildings. For the Home Information Packs, SAP will be used to calculate the energy performance of a home and predict the savings that might be achieved if improvements are made.

The coastal communities of England reflect its history as an island and maritime nation. They have been shaped by the way in which the sea and the coast have provided jobs, wealth and enjoyment, either through trade, industry or leisure. The consequence is a coastal historic environment rich in unique and distinctive character.

There are a whole range of complex issues affecting coastal towns in England but the picture of these towns in 2007 is by no means bleak. This report sets out a number of good practice examples of heritage-led regeneration currently underway in English coastal towns.

The cultural sector is uniquely placed to help deliver Local Area Agreement (LAA) outcomes for local communities. This briefing note on why and how culture contributes to LAAs has been produced jointly by Arts Council England (London), the Association of London Government (ALG), the Big Lottery Fund (London region), English Heritage (London), Government Office for London, Museums Libraries and Archives (MLA) London and Sport England (London).

This volume holds a datelist of 476 radiocarbon determinations carried out between 2002 and 2004 in support of research funded by English Heritage through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. It contains supporting information about the samples and the sites producing them, a comprehensive bibliography, and two indexes for reference and analysis. An introduction provides information about the scientific dating undertaken, and methods used for the analyses reported. Details of technical reports available for programmes of luminescence dating and amino-acid racemization funded under this scheme are also provided.

An English Heritage Guidance Note, 2007

Advice and guidance to users on laser scanning in archaeology and architecture

This note aims to provide general guidance on applications for planning permission, listed building consent and conservation area consent, by central government bodies and agencies, and other public bodies in England. It also re-states the requirements for obtaining scheduled monument clearance which is subject to different legislation.

Domestic Energy Assessors and Licensed Home Inspectors need to be aware that some improvements automatically generated by the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) software can be inappropriate, harmful and sometimes even illegal if applied to traditional and historic homes.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) assess the likely energy performance of homes. They rely on making generalised assumptions about all homes, using as their basis standard, usually modern, methods and materials of construction. Little allowance is therefore made for the way historic and traditional homes are built and perform. They should therefore be applied with caution.

This guide looks at a range of improvements that can be made to reduce the heat lost through a building’s walls, windows, floor and roof. Most of these improvements are within the capabilities of a competent DIY enthusiast, but if you are not confident that you have the necessary skills, seek expert advice and help.

This guide is one of a series on small-scale renewable energy options. Separate guides look at wind generation, solar energy, bio-fuels, heat pumps and combined heat and power, explaining how each system works and what you need to consider if you wish to install it in or on a historic building. All the guides look at small-scale or ‘Microgeneration’ as it is known. Microgeneration is defined by Government as, “The production of heat and/or electricity on a small-scalefrom a low carbon source”.

The maintenance of historic buildings and field walls not only contributes to the quality of the landscape and its enjoyment by the public but creates employment, supports local economies and sustains craft skills. A project commissioned by English Heritage and Defra has evaluated these effects in detail for the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Our historic buildings and monuments are often amazing feats of architecture and engineering. Many have been enhanced and brought to life at night-time with striking and subtle external lighting schemes. Some, however, have produced far more negative results by highlighting flaws and views of the structure never meant to be seen. Just because a building or structure happens to be listed does not mean this is a good enough reason to proceed with external lighting.

The English Heritage Industrial Archaeology Panel has encouraged the provision of this guidance. It is aware that the pressures of contract archaeology make it crucial for both local authority archaeology officers and contractors to plan for the use of specialised methods, from the outset of a project right through to publication. It is hoped that these guidelines will assist them, not only by explaining the techniques involved, but also by using recent examples to demonstrate their worth.

Paradise Preserved was first issued in 2002 to introduce and raise awareness of cemetery conservation management. This new edition is intended to complement the Government’s review, Burial Law and Policy in the 21st Century (Home Office 2004), and its Cleaner, Safer, Greener campaign for parks, open spaces and streets. It also takes into account the Guidance for Best Practice for Treatment of Human Remains Excavated from Christian Burial Grounds published in 2005 by English Heritage and the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. As from October 2006, public bodies and statutory undertakers have a duty to ensure due regard to the conservation of biodiversity.