Identity, value and protection: the role of statutory heritage regimes in post-Brexit England
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-09-07

A series of Acts of Parliament enable the Secretary of State for Culture to designate a wide variety of historic sites in England, as advised by Historic England. Although historically focused on the protection of sites, of late a much greater emphasis has been placed on celebrating these sites’ history and their place in our society in the present as much as in the past. Drawing on a range of recent designation casework undertaken by Historic England, this paper will explore the place of statutory heritage regimes in post-Brexit England, especially the part that sites play in the national consciousness and construction of identities by different communities, and particularly ‘English’ identities in a period of political upheaval for the United Kingdom.

Joe Flatman, Historic England