Vimy Declaration for the Conservation of Battlefield Terrain

**(draft, 2000)**

**Preamble**

Battlefields are poignant landscapes where physical geography has been
transformed into symbolic space through war, pilgrimage, memorialization
and tourism, and by its ambiguity as a living tomb for the missing. The
vivid, visceral imagery of battlefields, cemeteries and memorial
monuments has impressed itself on historical consciousness and on our
cultural memory of war.

Battlefields are significant on a number of levels: as places where
major geo-political issues were decided through conflict; as places of
triumph and tragedy; and as the source or inspiration for tactical or
technological advances. Places like the Somme, Verdun and Gettysburg are
historic sites, sacred places, and the focus of complex issues
surrounding cultural heritage and the commemoration and presentation of
the past. At sites where authentic battlefield terrain has been
preserved, such as Vimy Ridge or Vicksburg, the visitor stands in a
trench, or at the edge of a shell hole or crater, or deep inside
subterranean tunnels, and there is an emotional sense of place, of
intersecting the lives of the soldiers. Such locations offer a
reaffirmation of personal ties, a way of remembering, and of exploring
individual and collective identities.

Yet time casts its own shadow. Commemorative layers and the
infrastructure required to accommodate visitors may be laid over the
terrain; natural processes erode the features of the land, softening the
traces of battle. The modern world brings cultural change: different
attitudes and new pressures come to bear on these fragile landscapes,
rendering them endangered resources. How should they be treated? How can
change be managed? How will the textures of memory be presented to an
ever-changing audience with a weakening personal connection to the
battle?

Building on the Charter of Venice (1964), the Vimy Declaration for
Conservation of Historic Battlefield Terrain[^1] reflects a
multi-disciplinary exploration of the challenges associated with
protecting, presenting and managing the physical remains of historic
sites of conflict. The goal is to protect the fabric and meaning of
these complex cultural resources and in doing so to partly discharge the
debt which the present owes the past.

**Definitions**

A [Battlefield]{.underline} is a landscape associated with military
conflict superimposed on pre-existing natural and cultural forms, and
comprises a variety of features and cultural resources, including
vegetation, topography, circulation and settlement patterns, view
planes, archaeological layers, built structures, battlefield terrain and
earthworks. Battlefields retain multiple layers of meaning and evoke
different responses in different people. Cultural, social and political
perceptions and interpretations and personal responses to battlefields
evolve over time.

[Battlefield Terrain]{.underline} is a component of a battlefield
landscape, and for the purposes of this charter includes the physical
evidence of the battle or of preparations for the operations of war;
tactical features, fortifications, trenches, dugouts and other
subterranean works, shell-holes, craters and other scarring of the
landscape, burials, and associated artifacts including obstacles,
ordnance and equipment.

[Commemorative Layers]{.underline} are features added to a battlefield
to commemorate the event and the participants, such as monuments and
designed landscapes, and may have value not only for their design but
also as an expression of changing social and political perceptions of
the event. Commemorative layers may meet or overlay battlefield terrain.

[Archaeological Layers]{.underline} refer to the surface and subsurface
remains that exist in a continuum with, and form an integral part of the
battlefield landscape.

**Objectives**

Article 1.

This charter applies to the conservation of battlefields and associated
resources as defined above.

Article 2.

Battlefield terrain is subject to natural and human processes that cause
change over time. Certain features, particularly earthworks and
landscape scarring, will gradually disappear. The objective of
battlefield conservation is to reconcile the goals of commemoration,
conservation, presentation, visitor safety, and site management in such
a way that battlefield terrain and related features are protected and
contribute to visitor understanding and appreciation of the site. As
perceptions of the battle will also change with the passing of time, a
related objective is to preserve the site in such condition that future
generations of visitors and scholars may measure new hypotheses and
insights against authentic vestiges of the battle.

**Research and Documentation**

Article 3.

In addition to ongoing research and documentation of the battle and of
the experience of individual combatants within the broader historical,
cultural, social and geo-political context, research of the terrain
features themselves and of the larger physical context is critical to
understanding the spatial and temporal relationships between the various
layers and features that make up battlefield landscapes. Research
(historical, archaeological, biological, cartographical and other)
provides vital information for the understanding, evaluation, management
and presentation of these sites.

Article 4.

Resource inventories, mapping and other forms of documentation are
essential for identifying and understanding resources, for devising
effective management strategies and for informing future research. It is
appropriate to set aside particularly significant areas of battlefield
terrain specifically for research and study, and limit visitation to
these zones accordingly.

**Authenticity and Integrity**

Article 5.

While time and nature will change battlefield terrain, the authentic
place has the ability to evoke powerful emotional responses in visitors
that a facsimile cannot. Authenticity of place and its evocative power
are enhanced by retaining the integrity of the landscape and the
battlefield terrain.

Article 6.

Battlefields have integrity when evidence of the battle or of
preparation for it is legible, coherent and protected, when significant
views and spatial relationships of significant features are retained,
and when significant concealed features are correlated to the visible
terrain. Integrity also resides in evidence of the passage of time and
the patina of age resulting from natural processes.

Article 7.

Integrity and authenticity are protected through preventive
conservation, which includes careful planning to minimize the impact of
operations, visitor facilities and maintenance regimes, and retaining
original material and form to the extent that nature will allow. The
remnants of military activity left on the battlefield following military
conflict, and the patterning of these artifacts, comprise important
documentation of military engagement. Where possible they should be
maintained in situ and the integrity of the archaeological record
protected.

Article 8.

Interventions that alter battlefield features compromise their
integrity. Integrity of compromised features may be enhanced through
treatments that are compatible with the character of adjacent terrain.

Article 9.

While reconstructing missing features may be an effective interpretive
method in some contexts, reconstructed terrain lacks authenticity and
should not be imposed on authentic battlefield remains. Reconstruction
of missing battlefield terrain features must be preceded by a thorough
planning process that includes appropriate research and documentation.

**Planning, Treatment, and Conservation**

Article 10.

Treatment is defined as an intervention to conserve, stabilize, protect
or otherwise delay the loss of battlefield terrain. The primary
objective of treatment will be the conservation of battlefield resources
for future generations.

Article 11.

Decisions about treatment will be based on multi-disciplinary research,
investigation and long-term planning. Disciplines and interest groups
that contribute to understanding battlefield terrain include, but are
not limited to, conservation professionals, cultural resource managers,
natural resource managers, landscape architects, mapping and survey
specialists, veterans, military historians and engineers, ordnance
specialists, presentation specialists, anthropologists, archaeologists,
soil and forestry scientists, arborists, horticulturalists, ecologists
and site managers. Specialist knowledge of battlefield landscapes is
rare and its development is encouraged.

Article 12.

Appropriate research, planning, testing or monitoring must precede any
treatment of battlefield terrain, in order to ensure compatibility with
site conditions. Where possible, treatments should first be tested on
non-historic fabric.

Article 13.

Battlefield terrain is part of a living landscape which is subject to
natural processes. Treatment will be based on a sound understanding of
these processes.

Article 14.

All conservation treatments must be sustainable. The decision to
implement a treatment that will require ongoing maintenance must include
a commitment to ensure that resources will be available in the future.

Article 15.

Treatment and presentation choices must ensure long-term protection.
Choices will not only affect the character of the site, but may also
affect the visitor's response, and the degree of protection from natural
processes and human impacts. In all cases, treatment choices should be
guided by established planning objectives.

**Repairs and Maintenance**

Article 16.

Minor repairs (e.g., patching windthrow damage, desire paths or animal
activity) are carried out in a manner that does not compromise adjacent
resources, and are subtly distinguishable through archaeological
evidence.

Article 17.

Major repairs (e.g., reprofiling eroded forms) are documented, and are
distinguishable through archaeological evidence, through contrasting
maintenance regimes, or through presentation programming. As a minimum,
it should be possible for a specialist to distinguish repairs from
original materials and forms.

Article 18.

Personnel responsible for maintenance of battlefield terrain and
earthworks are oriented to the their value, are included in the process
of decision-making about treatment, are trained in appropriate methods,
and use least-damaging tools and techniques.

**Commemorative layers**

Article 19.

The battlefield terrain and any commemorative layer will be
distinguishable from each other, yet mutually supportive and
complementary. Commemorative features will be taken into consideration
when defining the values of battlefield landscapes.

**Use (Education, Tourism, Commemoration)**

Article 20.

By reason of its nature and history, battlefield terrain is conducive to
reflection, contemplation and learning. Appropriate activities are those
which respect and promote these priorities and respect the evidence of
the battle on the terrain.

Article 21.

The pressures of visitation are managed in such a way that the meaning
of the sites and the fragility of the resources are acknowledged and
protected. Access to battlefield terrain is managed in relation to the
size and vulnerability of the site. It may be appropriate to limit the
nature, frequency or schedule of access to a battlefield, or portions
thereof, in order to protect fragile features.

Article 22.

It is appropriate for the names given to battlefield sites to convey a
sense of history, and promote visitor understanding and appropriate use.
It is acknowledged that the term 'park' suggests a recreational focus
that may conflict with the appropriate conservation and presentation of
battlefield terrain.

**Visitor Understanding and Response**

Article 23.

Presentation and interpretative methods and devices protect battlefield
features by using solutions that simultaneously meet the goals of
understanding, and minimize impact on the terrain.

Article 24.

The presentation and interpretation of battlefields shall include and
make reference to the larger historic, cultural and physical contexts of
the battle(s) which occurred there.

Article 25.

Presentation and interpretation should also assist visitors to
appreciate the value of the battlefield terrain and minimize their
impact on it.

**[For more information]{.underline}**

This document is a draft that is open to suggestion and revision. To
provide comments, please contact:

Natalie Bull

Heritage Conservation Program

25 Eddy Street, 5^th^ Floor

Hull, Quebec

Canada K1A 0M5

tel. (819) 997-4987

fax. (819) 953-7482

Email: natalie_bull@pch.gc.ca

David Panton

Veterans Affairs Canada,

Box 7700

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Canada C1A 8M9

tel: (902) 566-8701

fax: (902) 566-8501

Email: dlpanton@vac-acc.gc.ca

[^1]: The Vimy Declaration for Conservation of Historic Battlefield
    Terrain was drafted by participants at the First International
    Workshop on Conservation of Battlefield Terrain, held in Arras,
    France, on March 1-3, 2000 at the invitation of Veterans Affairs
    Canada. Participating organizations included Veterans Affairs
    Canada; Heritage Conservation Program, Real Property Services for
    Parks Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada; United
    States National Park Service; Parks Canada; the National Battlefield
    Commission of the Department of Canadian Heritage; English Heritage;
    the Durand Group (United Kingdom); University College London; City
    of Arras, France; American Battle Monuments Commission; Ministry of
    Culture and Communication (France); and the Commonwealth War Graves
    Commission.